"Store Bought" Bows

I'm sorry I haven't posted in awhile. I misplaced my camera cord, but now that I have found it the posts can continue. This is a quick post on how to make a paper bow. You can jazz up any wrapping with a bow you make yourself!

You'll need:
A page from a magazine
Scissors
Double sided tape
Staples

I chose a page that had a lot of one color in it. And yes, this is an ad for cat food, but look at all the green!

Next I cut out 7 strips of paper. 3 long, 3 medium, 1 small

With the small strip, roll it into a circle and tape it in place.

With all the longer pieces make a figure 8 (or infinity) shape. Staple them in place. You want to make sure the 3 longer pieces all make a figure 8 about the same size, and the same for the 3 medium pieces.

Next nestle the 3 longest pieces in each other and staple in place

Finally nestle the 3 medium pieces in place and staple. Add the circular piece with a piece of double sided tape. Use double sided tape to attach to a gift!

This is a super easy project that take about 5 minutes to make, and in the long run can save you money, and really personalize a gift.

Cocktail Napkins

If you're anything like me you have lots of scraps of fabric that you have lots of ideas for. A few days ago I decided to make cocktail napkins from some white fabric I had. I wanted to make them special though, so I whipped out my embroidery hoop.

Unfortunately I forgot to take pictures of the process. :(

Fortunately, it's a fairly simple technique.

You'll need: fabric, an embroidery hoop, an embroidery needle, embroidery thread

1. I cut out my cocktail napkin squares. Each napkin requires 2 squares.

2. I drew a simple flower design on the front of each napkin. I used a crayola color pencil to make the drawing. A good tip is that flowers, or any design for that matter, looks best in odd groups ie 1, 3, 5, etc.

3. I choose my embroidery colors and started at it. If you're not a good embroiderer don't worry about it. You aren't going to see the back of the napkins anyway. Close up embroidery:

4. Place the napkin face down on a napkin back and pin in place.

5. Sew along 3 of the edges of the napkin. Sew halfway along the fourth edge. Now turn the napkin right side in. It's kind alike flipping a pillowcase right side in.

6. Tuck in the last unfinished part of the napkin. Now you're going to give your napkin a border so it isn't so billowy.

7. Sew a 1/4 inch straight stitch along all the edges.

8. Voila! Done!

Close up pic:

I'm using my napkins as mini place mats in my room. But you can use yours for cocktail parties, as coasters, as a gift set, a a "doily" for a vase. Endless possibilities!

Ruffle Shirt

If you're like me you have, in your life, received a Christmas gift you didn't particularly like. In my case my extended family loved to buy me things that were age inappropriate. Over the years I have received butterfly charm bracelets, lisa frank stationary, a black glitter dragonfly backpack, and the wonderful gem below: a tweetybird shirt. I received all these gifts after the age of 16 mind you. Usually I didn't mind too much as i would pass the gifts down to my sister (who is 8 years younger than I am). I did however keep this shirt thru the years to use as an undershirt (usually under a short sleeved polo). However, I haven't worn it in a few years and decided it was time to give it a little update.

First thing I did is cut off the sleeves. I hemmed cap sleeves with a simple straight stitch.

I then measured and cut the sleeves into strips. I used 4 strips for this project, each about 2 inches wide.

Then I sewed a straight stitch down each strip.

In order to get the "ruffle" I pulled at one of the threads in the straight stitch.

After I ruffled all the strips I pinned them in place on the shirt.

I then sewed the ruffles on the shirt.

I can't wait to wear this out!

Organizing Crafts

If you've been following im26nowwhat.blogspot.com you know that my room was recently flooded. After the room was dried and new carpet was installed I used the opportunity to move my room around a bit. I dedicated a corner of the room to my crafts. I decided that I needed more storage room. I was on the verge of buying something when I stumbled across craft tutorials for advent calendars. Then it hit me. If You can use fabric pockets to countdown the days of advent, I could use them to store my crafts!

For this project I needed one large piece of fabric to be the backing. I already had this on hand. i then cut out assorted square and rectangle shaped pieces of fabric to use as the pockets. I used all different fabric scraps that I had on hand. You can choose to keep your pockets all the same.

I also decided I wanted to frame my project. It just gives it a more defined and finished look. I happened to have this frame laying around. I was glad to finally put it to use. You definitely don't need a frame for this project though. You can just use thumbtacks to hang it up.

Here is my finished project! (You can also see storage my totes in the pictures. )

Some of my pockets ended up a little crooked, but they served my purposes so I didn't bother to re-sew them. Have fun!