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Saturday, May 28, 2011

4 easy hair clips

Saturday, May 28, 2011

4 easy hair clips

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Now that my daughter's hair is getting longer, I need to have more hair accessories to keep it all under control. I'm tired of trying to find hair accessories that don't break after one use for a good price. So, I decided that I could probably make something just as cute and for cheap. Why not at least try, right?

So, here are 4 tutorials for easy felt hair clips!
 What you'll need:
Felt • Glue gun • Scissors • Hair clips or pins

FOLDED FLOWER
1. Cut one circle and 4 scalloped circles about 2 inches in diameter. They don't have to be perfect. You can make a template or freehand your shape.
2. Add a small amount of glue to the center of the circle.
3. Fold the circle in half & press into the glue so the fold holds.
4. Add another dab of glue to the bottom center of the half-circle.
5. Fold in half again, creating a cone shape. Press into the glue so it holds together.
6. Add glue to the bottom corner of one side of the cone. Place onto the circle with the point in the center.
This is what the flower will look like with the four flowers placed on the circle. You can leave this as is and fluff the "petals" up, or you can do what I ended up doing by cutting a smaller scalloped circle and placing it in the center to give it some extra fullness. Fluff the circles to get the look you want.

Attach your flower to a clip by adding glue to the bottom of your circle piece and you're done! These also make adorable clothing pins or accent on a bag.
 Simple as that!


ROLLED ROSETTE 
1. Cut a strip of felt about 1 1/2 inch by 9 inches.
2. Cut a scalloped shape along one half of the entire strip. These don't have to be perfect! (see picture #3) Cut close to the edge, but be careful not to cut all the way through.
3. Roll the strip tightly, adding a little glue to the bottom edge while rolling to keep it from slipping & unrolling.
4. Turn your rosette over, fluff out the petals and you're done! The back will be flat, so it's easily attachable to anything.


POM POMS
This method is basically the same as the rolled rosette, except you cut strips into your felt instead of scalloping it.
1. Cut a strip of felt about 1 1/2 inch thick by 9 inches. You can adjust this measurement to make your pom poms bigger or smaller. I made these to fit with a 1 year old's piggy tails.
2. Cut strips about 1/8 inch apart along the entire length of felt, being careful not to cut all the way through the edge.
3. Roll the strip tightly, adding a little glue to the bottom edge while rolling to keep it from slipping & unrolling.
4. Turn the pom pom over and fluff it out. The back will be flat, so it's easily attachable to anything.


 Love those piggy tails!


ROLLED FLOWER WITH PETALS
1. Cut a strip of felt and scallop the same as the rolled rosette, except cutting closer to the edges.
2. Add a drop of glue at the bottom center of the scallop.
3. Fold scallop in half, holding it tightly for at least 15 seconds so the glue will dry a little. They will pop back open if you don't hold it long enough.
4. Once you've pleated all the petals, start to roll the strip onto itself. Instead of rolling it like the rolled rosette, try to keep this flat, putting the bottom edges together and adding glue more often while rolling to keep it from sliding & unrolling. Adjust the petals while gluing so they look like a flower. That's why you cut a little closer to the edge, it's easier to move & adjust the petals to where they look right.
5. Add some kind of embellishment (I used a floral marble) to the center of the flower.
6. Add a scrap of felt to the center part of the top clip. I left the very top as is (metal), I just didn't want the glue leaking onto the bottom part of the clip and wanted it to sit flat in the hair.
7. Cut a small square or circle and attach it to the back of the flower for stability and to make sure it stayed together.
8. Attach the flower to the top of the clip and you're done!
My little model showing off the clip in her little piggy tails. Love it!
 Linking to these parties!
Thursday, May 26, 2011

butterfly rosette wreath

Thursday, May 26, 2011

butterfly rosette wreath

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Yes, this week's project is another decoration for my daughter's bedroom. I'm so excited to show you guys!! I've seen so many stunning wreaths showing up a lot lately and wanted to make one of my own. I added my own little twist to it, and love how it turned out!!
Let's get started!!

Here's what you need:
• about 2 yards of felt
• 12 or 14 inch Styrofoam wreath
•  ribbon (I got 1 1/2" x 5 yards & needed 2 rolls!)
•  glue gun
•  disappearing ink pen
•  accessories to decorate wreath (optional)
•  3 inch circle template
First, I started by pushing a pin through the end of the ribbon to the wreath to hold it in place. Then I just wrapped it around, covering the wreath. You don't want the hot glue melting the styrofoam, so you just need to cover it.
You can use any color or style of ribbon, it won't show in the end. I thought 5 yards of ribbon would be enough, but apparently not. I recommend getting two rolls, then you end up having enough extra ribbon to use as a hanger for the back.
Using your circle template (I used the lid from my apothecary jar), trace your circles with a disappearing ink pen. I found it easier (for me, anyway) to trace a bunch of circles all at once, then cutting them out two at a time. I HIGHLY recommend using the spring scissors (shown with my rag letter tutorial) for this! Saves your hand so much work!!
After you've cut out all your circles, you can just run water over them and ta-da!! The marks are all gone. Love this pen! The felt took a long time to dry, so I ended up putting them into a pillowcase and threw it in the dryer for about 20 minutes.
And here's the pile of circles! The spring scissors are there at the bottom of the pile. I used around 300 circles for the entire wreath.
To attach the circles to the wreath, I used hot glue because that's what I had on hand. You can also use pins and just pin everything to the wreath instead.
Here's how to get your rosette:
• Take your circle and fold it half, looking like a taco.
• Fold it in half again, looking like an ice cream cone. (Can you tell I'm hungry??)
 • Cut off the bottom corner of the cone, maybe 1/8 inch. I didn't measure, but just enough that you can get glue on the bottom of all the layers.
• Add a glob of hot glue on the bottom, be careful not to burn yourself!!


Glue the rosette to the wreath, making them close enough that the ribbon isn't showing through. Once you've added a few, you can go back and fluff them up a little to get the look you want. I put mine in all different directions to get a 'rufflier' look, but you can place them however you want.
Continue making & gluing rosettes until you've covered your entire wreath. I only covered the front, top and middle since the back will be against the wall. If you end up having some circles with some ink still on the edges, you can spray them with a little bit of water and it will come right off.

**Let me please warn you again to be careful with the glue gun!!**
I burned my finger pretty good when trying to glue one of the rosettes on the middle part of the wreath. I will spare you the photo. Ouch.
After you fill your wreath with rosettes, cut a 5 inch piece of ribbon and fold it in half. Then attach it to the back of your wreath with pins or glue to form a hanger. At this point you can be done with your wreath, or you can add some accessories.

I love how this wreath looks on its own, it would be great for a year round wreath and just add different decorations for seasons! But, this is for my daughter's fairy bedroom, so I found some cute things to add that girly look.
I bought the butterflies at Hobby Lobby, one larger one and a set of about 5 smaller ones. They all have a felt circle attached to the back, so that saved me a step! Add some glue to the felt circle and then attach the butterflies to the wreath.
 I love how it turned out!! It matches her curtains perfectly, and I love how the butterflies add some girly-ness, but they also don't take too much away from the look of the wreath.
 Linking to these parties!
Saturday, May 21, 2011

envelope guest book

Saturday, May 21, 2011

envelope guest book

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My aunt needed some help coming up with a unique idea for a co-worker who was retiring. They were going to have a reception so she was thinking along the lines of some kind of guest book or something to sign and wish him well. Being the craft-tastic person that I am, no boring book or poster board would do.

I came across the idea of an envelope guest book. I liked this idea for several reasons: it's unique, it gives co-workers & friends the opportunity to write something a little more personal than just signing their name, and it gave me something fun to work on! :) My aunt also had photos she wanted to incorporate into the book, so I got to practice my scrapbooking skills! FYI, my scrapbooking skills are a bit rusty.

Here are the supplies I used:
- 8.5 x 11" fabric scrapbook album
- scrapbook paper (we found a couple paper packs of coordinating patterns, colors & stickers)
- envelopes & cards (you could easily cut cardstock & find small envelopes, but we ended up finding cards that matched the paper packs! We got a black & off-white set of envelopes, too.)
- glue sticks (glue dots or similar could also be useful)
- scissors, paper cutting tools, etc.

Since the paper packs were 12x12 and the book was 8.5x11, I needed to trim the paper down. For the envelope pages, I tried to keep it simple and chose patterned paper and cut it to size. Easy peasy. If you are a talented scrapbooker, I'm sure you could make this book look even more ahhh-mazing.



Then all you have to do is put glue stick all over the "front" of the envelopes and line them up in the center of the paper. Try to get the same spacing on each envelope page, otherwise it probably won't look as clean. Make sure all the edges of the envelope are stuck down really well.


This book had plastic pages, so we worked with what we had. Instead of leaving pages out and having people sign cards & put them in the envelopes themselves, we came up with the idea to have them sign before and we could put the notes in and be able to give him the complete book!

If you are wanting to use this idea for a wedding reception, for example, I recommend getting the 12x12 book instead and buying the paper pages that you can find separately so your envelopes are easily available and easy for people to put their notes in on their own. They didn't have pages like that for an 8.5x11 book, so we just worked with what we had.


Here are some photos of envelope pages and my mad scrapbooking skills! I put three pages of envelopes (6 envelopes total) between the photo pages, just to keep things even and looking consistent. I used 30 envelopes total and had 6 photo pages.





In the front of the book there's a space for a photo. Since I used all the photos on the inside, I decided to put his name instead. I typed it up on the computer & then added some ripped paper scraps to the "picture" before adding it in, just to give it the scrapbook feel and add some color. He's also retiring from UVU, so I of course had to use green since that's one of their main school colors.


And that's it! Very simple, and very different from your average guest book!

Wednesday, May 18, 2011

blackbird chevron canvas

Wednesday, May 18, 2011

blackbird chevron canvas

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My chevron canvas was feeling a little lonely up on my wall, so I decided to make some additional pieces that matched, but could stand on their own. The words are lyrics to the Beatles song, "Blackbird." I kind of felt it fit perfectly with the original chevron canvas considering there are 2 blackbirds on it... and I love the Beatles!!

Growing up, my sister was obsessed with the Beatles. And since we were stuck sharing a room every little sister wants to be like their older sister, I quickly learned every Beatles song. I did always love their music though, just not to the extent my sister did. :) So, Natalie, consider this part of an homage to you for teaching me to love great music.

What I used:
- two 8x10" canvases
- acrylic craft paint (I used the same Calypso Sky I used on the chevron canvas)
- painters tape
- sponge brush
- Sharpie marker, fine tip & regular tip
- chevron stencil


First, I painted my canvases with watered down acrylic paint. I mixed one part paint, 2 parts water (basically 1 teaspoon paint, 2 teaspoons water) because I wanted the same color as my other canvas, but I didn't want these to take too much away from it either. Just FYI, watered down paint shows the brush strokes more. Think of it more as doing a watercolor painting.


After the paint was dry, I marked off my chevron lines using the same stencil I used for my original chevron canvas. Since these all go together, I wanted the lines to be the same size. I like using the Frog Tape, it usually keeps the paint from leaking.


I used the same watered down paint and painted a couple coats on the open area. The plan was just to make the pattern a couple shades darker so the chevron was there, but a little less obvious. Let each coat dry in between. I painted two coats, just because one didn't look like much of a difference from the original coat.


 Well, my Frog Tape obviously didn't work too well for keeping it from leaking. Obviously you can see in the photo how it looked. After running away from it for a little while and then coming back to it, I decided it might actually look cool once I was done. If not, I could always start over.



I put together some wording on the computer, and then cut it out using the Silhouette. I used the "negative" as my stencil and stuck it to the canvas by spraying some spray glue and letting it sit for around 5 minutes so it was tacky, but not extremely sticky. Then, I traced the letters with a Sharpie. I used the fine point tip for the outline of the bigger letters, and the regular tip to fill in the smaller letters.



This is how it looked after I took my stencil off. Don't worry if the edges aren't perfect, it won't matter too much after the next step. Just make sure the outlines are all connected and at least look like the stencil you made.


 I wanted kind of a "grunge" look considering how the stripes turned out. I filled in the letters by some controlled scribbling using the regular tip Sharpie. Leaving some empty space in between scribbles gives it the look I was going for. I tried to keep the angle of the scribbles all going the same direction, mostly because I'm OCD like that. :)


Once it's dry, I hear you can cover it with Mod Podge, but I was too chicken to try. With my luck it would have smeared. I did some research and a lot of people say once the Sharpie is dry it shouldn't smear. Someday I will find out for sure, but for now I don't want to risk it...


 I absolutely LOVE how it all looks together.


 Obviously, these are both of the canvases up close. Love the words to this song.


Saturday, May 14, 2011

Sprinkle Sugar Cookies

Saturday, May 14, 2011

Sprinkle Sugar Cookies

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sprinkle sugar cookies

For our big family Mother's Day dinner, my Grandma asked me to bring some treats that would be fun and easy for the kids to eat. I was able to ge a bunch of Toll House cookie dough for $1 a package and knew this would be the perfect treat!! These are SO easy and everyone (even the adults) loved them!!
Friday, May 13, 2011

diy hair bow holder

Friday, May 13, 2011

diy hair bow holder

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My bathroom is getting a little too cluttered lately with the thousands of rubber bands, hair bows and clips for my daughter's hair. Since I don't have a whole lot of counter space, I decided to make a hair bow holder to store it all plus add some decoration to the bathroom.



I didn't get a photo of all the supplies, but here's what I used:
• 16x20" frame
• paint (I used Plaid FolkArt paint in Tickled Pink)
• chicken wire (got a roll at Home Depot for about $20)
• hot glue/glue gun
• "s" hooks (pretty inexpensive at Lowe's/Home Depot)
• jars/containers for smaller accessories
• cabinet knobs

First, I painted the frame. I put on about 3 coats. The wood had a couple of dark knots showing through, so I wanted to make sure you couldn't see them when I was done.
 
After the paint dries, it's time to move on to the next step... If you're like me, that means it's time for my smarter-than-me-about-measuring husband! No, really. I am so glad he helped me with this part. He rolled out the wire and measured the frame up to it to get the width measurement. Cut it through, the re-fit it into the frame and measure it up for the height. Watch out for the sharp edges, that wire is like a ninja and will cut you without you even realizing it! (I would have shown pictures, but I didn't want to make someone throw up because of my tutorial...so just trust me, mmkay?)



Once you have the wire cut, try to flatten it out as much as possible. Lay it on the floor or table with something flat and heavy on top of it. This is also the time when you could decorate your glass/backing. My frame didn't come with glass, it was just a bare wood frame from Hobby Lobby. So, mine is going to be without a backer.

Ideas I've done with glass before: spray paint one side of the glass. Let dry and VERY carefully put glass in the frame, paint side up. Then put cardboard or something behind it so it doesn't get scratched and remove the spray paint. You can also cover the glass with fabric, then hot glue or tape to the back of glass and place it in your frame behind the wire. The possibilities are endless. Mine is going to show the wall behind it for now.

Once your wire has been flattened, place inside your frame and bribe your husband to hot glue it around the edges. Our original plan was to staple it with a staple gun, but the edges of the frame ended up being too thin and that wasn't going to happen. Hot glue seemed to work fine though, as it always does. :)

 

Now it's time to decorate!! I got out my bucket of bows & clips and started clipping. I'm a bit OCD, so I put them in order of size and color and types of bows/clips... trust me, you don't have to do it this way! :) I also have a large collection of elastics and clips for flyaways. It's a little difficult to put those kinds of things on something like this, so I found some glass jars for less than $1. I then bought some "S" hooks to be able to hang the jars up. I filled the jars and then hooked one side of the "S" hook through the back of the jar. They hang up nicely and keep things organized.

 

"S" hook, just in case you didn't know

 


I also have plans to put knobs on the bottom of the frame to hang a bunch of headbands, but the hubs has done more than his share of help and has had enough injuries from the wire for the night. He was apalled that I would even suggest hot gluing the knobs on... so, the drilling holes for the knobs will have to wait for another day. Plus, we don't have a drill here, so that doesn't help either. Otherwise I would do it myself. I also think it might need a little more decoration... vinyl? Not sure yet, I just know it needs a little something more.



So here is the finished (well, mostly) project! I'm pretty happy with how it turned out.