Finally!

It's been a long time coming, but I finally finished the elephant square pillow/plush that I was working on. Behold!

This little guy (8"x8"x8") took me longer than I thought it would, but I also wasn't constantly working on it. In fact, there were many moments when I could have been working on it, but didn't. Then with the whole ear debacle, the project just kept dragging on and on.

So on a very laid back Saturday night I began the finishing stitches - I added the eyes and closed up the face. I like when the animals don't have mouths and as you can see this little guy doesn't have one.

Of course, none of my projects ever turn out 100% perfect, but I think these imperfections give the pieces some character. Notice the wobbly side of his face and if you saw a straight on shot of him you would notice that his ears are not quite even.

That's not too terrible, right?

 

What a little darling!

Also, I suppose I could have made his trunk a little larger. Oh well! Am I the only one who has project mishaps?

Something I've been working on...

It's not quite finished, but it's been so long since we've posted anything that I figured I'd give you an update. Over at How About Orange last week, Jess posted about some tutorials for small, soft, and cute things and I was instantly enamored with the felt rabbit keychain. Obviously, I couldn't resist because it was handsewn and felt - 2 of my favorite things.

I didn't want to make a rabbit though, and I especially didn't want to make a keychain because I certainly don't need any more things to carry around. So I was thinking about what I could do and how I could warp the idea into something that I really wanted. Easily enough I decided that I wanted to make an elephant pillow/stuffed animal in the style of that felt rabbit.

First I traced a square outline on some gray felt to give me 6 squares (5 darker gray and 1 lighter gray for the stomach).

Then I cut out two small strips of dark gray felt and sewed them together, stuffed a little bit of filling inside, clip the ends to fray it, and sewed it onto the felt square that would make up the rear of the elephant.

Now I'm sewing all my squares together, but I still have to make the face, ears, and trunk.

Here's my progress thus far:

I'm hoping to finish this soon, within the next day or two, so I'll let you know how it goes. - Meg

How quickly can I gather the supplies to make this...

As I roamed about the internet this morning I clicked over to Wild Ink Press and looked through her posts and found this amazing DIY project: Homemade Clock.

In the short time that I've known about this project I have been emailing it to my friends and family. Pretty soon we'll all have a variation of this clock. Alas, I do not have any wood type laying around for my use, so I'll have to keep my eyes peeled for any interesting numbers (whether wood type or not). 

-Meg

poppies, poppies, and more poppies….

During our last mini-craft social when Meghan made that awesome snail pillow (which I plan on stealing from her) the rest of us were working on poppies!

I came across the how to on How about orange and fell in love with the idea immediately. These easy to make fabric poppies make wonderful pins and adornments for anything, the possibilities are truly endless. We pretty much followed the directions to a T. We used hairspray instead of fabric stiffener and it worked just fine, for a fraction of the cost! And to speed up the process we dried them with a hair dryer instead of waiting for them to air dry. I have decided for the center I prefer a button instead of the fabric bunch, a vintage brooch would work great as well! Once the poppies were all glued together I found that they were pretty big, so I bent the petals back in different directions for a flatter look, although the originals look great too.

           

You don' have to use all of the petals, this is a picture of the mid way point

                                       

Different ideas…..

Gina chose to use felt instead of cotton or linen, and those turned out very well, I wanted to pin one to winter hat! I think the felt will be more durable in the long run, too. Plus it cut some time out of the process because there was no ironing or spraying, and that is always a plus. :)  Also, Sarah picked a patterned fabric mixed with a solid, and that created a fun and bright flower, very cool! All together everyone was very happy with the outcome. So print out those template and get creating!!!! -Julie

A mini craft-social and an adventure in pillow making...

While roaming around the Renegade Craft fair last month I came across the cutest pillow that I wanted, nay - needed, to have and it only cost (holy crud!) $55. How swiftly my dreams of having this pillow on my couch faded. After much longing, Julie and I once again discussed this pillow and thought that I could make that pillow myself at a fraction of the price, and so I did.

Julie, a few of our friends, and me all got together one night after work to socialize and do some crafting. Everyone else made fabric poppies (which Julie will discuss later) except for me - my goal was to make this beloved pillow. It was a great night of cutting, gluing, and my favorite - hand sewing.

Here is the inspiration pillow:

Out For a Stroll by Alison Tauber

Alison's pillow is admittedly better than mine, but I think I could get it right on the second try.

Here is my pillow (and the process of creating it):

First I cut out the felt shell shape and sewed the spiral detail

The I pinned it to the gray fabric that I bought and cut. I wanted a 15" pillow, but I didn't think it through well enough and ended up with a 14" pillow. Obviously, I forgot about adding an extra inch so I could have a 1/2" seam. Oops!

From there I pinned the two pillow pieces together and begun hand sewing the edges. I have a sewing machine, but honestly - I've never used it. I enjoy a good hand sewing, plus it's much easier to tote it around. So after a total of maybe...5 hours? I had this pillow:

 

 Here's a close up of the snail.

Another thing I'd do different about this (besides leaving room for the seam) is that I'd raise the snail up so you could better see the bottom of it. Overall I love it and instead of $55, this pillow only cost me about $10.

Bachelorette Party favors

This has been a long time coming. The wedding happened a couple weekends ago and it was amazing. Two really great friends of mine got married and the day was absolutely beautiful. However, before all that greatness could occur, I had to throw the bride a bachelorette party. I've already discussed the decorations with you (beaded garland and tissue paper pom-poms) so here are the favors that I made with Julie's help and the help of a couple of our coworkers.

Magnets!!  

(Not exactly risque, but still awesome.)

These are all felt magnets that I made. Many people have made cupcakes and cupcake magnets before with this design. In fact, a quick search on etsy provides me with blackcatmima and shopmamapapaya and flashyfish. I'm not trying to promote them, although why not - love thy fellow crafters, but I'm just trying to get it out of the way that those cupcakes aren't some design that I maliciously stole. If you've made ones just like it, awesome, and if you haven't, you should because they're cute and fun.

For the 1 cupcake:

Cut out 2 bases in brown, yellow, or white felt at your desired size in the shape of like a squared off bowl

Cut out 2 cupcake tops in a color of your choice at a size that is wider than the base. Scallop the bottom portion.

*It is important that the bases match each other and even more important that the tops match because when it's time to sew them together, it becomes a hassle. I suggest you make a template and use it.

Sew beads onto 1 top piece for sprinkles and 1 red button as a cherry (although, I have never had a cherry on a cupcake).

Sew the beaded top onto one of the bases.

Sew the other top onto the other base, make sure that they mirror what you have just sewn so they match up.

Sew the two pieces together, leaving room to fill with polyfill and to insert a magnet.

FINI!

The cake piece was a lot harder and I really can't say that I have mastered a perfect way to sew this. That wasn't the best cake piece magnet, but the bride took the best one and I didn't photograph it beforehand. This one takes patience and maybe you can tell me a better way to go about sewing this.

For the cake piece:

Cut out 2 rectangles at your desired size to make the prominent side and magnet side of the piece. Sew one end together and leave the other 3 sides alone.

Cut out another rectangle that's the same height as the other two pieces, but thinner to make the end of the cake piece (where all the frosting would be in real life). Sew together with the other piece so that you have a triangle.

Cut out a triangle base to cover the bottom of the triangle and sew it on.

Measure the triangle for the top part of frosting and make it large enough that you can scallop the edges and have it overhang the sides.

Sew beads onto the top piece

Sew along the scallops around the top of the cake piece - leaving enough room to fill and insert a magnet, or 2.

*It's the top part that causes me trouble. Maybe I could sew the top triangle and scallops on separately. Hmm...*

Also, if you want you can add a strip of colored felt for the fruit/filling layer or bead the cake piece so that it looks like a funfetti cake. So many options!

Happy handsewing!

-Meg

One object, endless possibilities…..

Object: Starbucks store bought Frappuccino bottle

Like many of you out there I am addicted to Caffeine. At this point I am pretty sure that I can’t function without it. One of my favorite treats is the Starbucks Mocha Frappuccino that you can purchase at the grocery store. This particular drink comes in a nice thick glass bottles with a tin lid. I love the fact that they bare a slight resemblance to vintage milk bottles. (Country charm) Recently I have collected some of the bottles and decided to recycle/reinvent them. It is always fun to think outside the box……

First, I removed the labels and underlying residue (hot soapy water works well). Using a little bit of rubbing alcohol I removed the use by date. And of course I washed out any leftover coffee.

Then came the creative thinking….

A couple of the ideas didn’t require any modification to the bottles at all. Just remove the lid and they make a wonderful vase for wildflowers. The bottles are also a great storage solution for office/ art supplies.

They make fantastic gift containers for bath salts or candy. Add your own fun homemade label for a personal touch. You can even tie on a spoon on the side.

I also explored using etching paint to create designs on the bottles. I bought a very reasonably priced frosting kit at my local craft store, using painters tape I created a stencil for my pattern and I was off….. The results: fun and whimsical bottles. I should mention that I had trouble getting crisp lines around the edges and 2 coats of the frosting pain wasn't quite enough. Live and learn....

Other ideas to try…. Candle holder, sugar storage (etching the word sugar on the front would be super cute), lighting bug holder (with holes in the lid of course), display a sea shell collection with a layer of sand on the bottom of the jar. Use them to serve fun summer drinks in. Mix and match different heights for small collections on a table or window sill. If you are lucky enough to have a vintage milk crate, you could line the bottles up and add flowers to some, creating a fun country centerpiece. The possibilities are endless!!!

And don’t forget the lid…. Although it isn’t bad as is, you can always cover it in fabric, paint it, or just add a sticker to the top for a little added detail.

warm and cozy purse

In anticipation of fall fast approaching (sooner than expected in the Chicago land area) I started sorting through all of my sweaters. There is this one particular cardigan that unfortunately I have become a little to plump to wear anymore, yet I can’t bring myself to get rid of it. (What can I say I’m a sucker for toggle buttons) Just recently I decided it was time to do something about it…. instead of giving it away I choose to rethink it. Inspired by an article I read in Country Living Magazine. I decided to make it into a purse. This way I don’t have to completely give it up.

The execution was pretty easy. I just cut off the arms and sewed the body like you would a pillow, obviously leaving one side open. If you make the bottom of the sweater the top of the purse, you don’t even need to hem it! I added a wide pink ribbon under the buttons, for a little added detail. I lined the purse with some micro-suede left over from another project for added structure. The sleeves became the straps. All and all the process was pretty cheap and easy. I did screw one thing up though. I ended up putting the straps on last which was a mistake; it would have made more sense to put the straps on before I lined the purse so the connections was between the liner and the outside. But this is an easy mistake to go back and fix, so I am not too disappointed. It made for a great afternoon project.



More ideas…..It would also have made a great pillow or wonderful addition to an activity blanket for toddlers learning how to zipper, button, snap, and tie. (Just think of the many fun little images that could be hiding under the buttons for your toddler to discover) I am for sure all of you could think of tons of ideas as well. So don’t throw away those sweaters, start crafting!

Bachelorette party decorations

My friend is getting married next week so she asked me to throw her a bachelorette party I was thrilled to put it together for her.

For the decorations I made the oft-mentioned tissue paper pom-poms from Martha Stewart in varying colors (white, pink, orange, green, and blue), you can find how to make these here. I hung these above the kitchen table along with garland made from yarn pom-poms and beads.

I used picture hooks to keep the garland suspended.

To make yarn pom-poms wrap yarn around your pointer and middle finger 75-100 times. Cut a separate piece of yarn, about 6" long, and wrap it around the yarn - going through your fingers. Cinch the yarn and cut the ends. For a larger pom-pom wrap it around 3 fingers 100-125 times.

I strung the pom-poms and beads using jewelry thread and a needle - next time I will use a clear thread. To keep the beads in place you have to go through the bead twice otherwise they slip all over the place. Be careful because they can become tangled quite easily.

And then there was cinnamon...

Project: Handmade Soap
Reference: Martha Stewart’s Craft encyclopedia
Difficulty factor: 6
Cost: approximately $60 (with plenty of supplies left over - the majority of this is initial cost)

We are pretty excited about our first attempt at soap making. All in all it was pretty successful. Being novices at the craft we chose to use Martha Stewart’s directions on soap making. Our intent was to follow the book verbatim to achieve the beautiful soaps pictured in the book. Unfortunately, when we dove in we discovered the directions were not very precise on the portions of ingredients. So Martha, if you are reading these our suggestions would be to add more specific quantities to your recipe. (Yeah right, we wish Martha was reading this!!!)

So the experimenting began. Our favorite formula became 3 white glycerin blocks and 2 clear with a touch of natural honey to achieve a warm oatmeal like color. From there we added blueberry seeds, apricot seeds, and oatmeal to add textures to the different soaps. We also added essential oils, such as honey-almond and lavender.



And then there was cinnamon….. The book displayed a beautiful translucent crimson red cinnamon scented soap. We both fell in love with this look and decided to duplicate it. At first everything was going wonderfully but then we added the cinnamon and the mixture became a sewage brown color, nowhere near red! It did smell wonderful, though. So we forged on and decided to try it again but this time we added a small amount of red and yellow food coloring. This resulted in a pink flesh toned color or as Meghan so genuinely refers to it as, “the color of puke”. Both end products smelled great but neither looked very appealing. We are going to keep working on this one…. We will keep you posted.

Overall the process was pretty simple, it involved microwaving the ingredients stirring in the additives and pouring into greased molds. Once the soaps hardened (overnight) we embellished them with different styles of wrapping. These will make great gifts! And between the styles of molds, additives and presentation the possibilities are endless. This is definitely something we will continue to explore!!! So give it a try and let us know how it goes!

Julie and Meghan