"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!

Christmas Cards!

I know it's after Christmas, but I didn't want those who were receiving cards to not be surprised!

First thing is first, I made a trip to Michaels to pick out paper. I LOVE fancy paper. It's really the only way to make a card. This year I know I wanted purple for my cards. It reminds me of royalty. :)

Other supplies I used included a purple felt pen, my paper cutter, toole, and a snowflake hole punch. The paper cutter is totally my favorite new crafting tool. I have no idea how I lived without one before. Scissors can kiss it. ;)

I measured out the paper to the dimensions I wanted and made the cuts. I used the toole as a decorative embellishment.

I wanted to give my cards a little something extra, so I sealed envelopes with handmade stickers. I also used the stickers on the back of each card as my "logo". Who needs Hallmark?

Handmade stickers are super easy to make, I just used my (glitter) gel pens on clear labels.

My "logo" on the back of a card.

The finished product! I'm so proud of my finished cards!!!

Fabric Christmas Wreath

This is a tutorial for a Christmas Wreath I made. I'm obsessed with fabric ruffles right now; I think this came out really well.
For this project you will need:

1 wire hanger
2 yards of fabric (whatever you want to make your wreath out of. This fabric should be double sided because both sides will be seen).
Fabric scissors
Needle
Thread (to match your fabric)
1 inch - 2 inch spool of ribbon (to coordinate with your fabric)

1. Cut out lots and lots of fabric circles. I did about 200. They are about 3 inches in diameter (across). You can make yours bigger or smaller, it's a preference thing. Also, no need to worry about making perfectly circular circles. Ovals and slightly misshapen circles are fine, they will actually add to the dimension of your wreath.

2. Bend the wire hanger, like this:
You want to make it as circular as possible.


3. I snapped off the hook part of the hanger. You can leave yours on and hang your wreath by it. I prefer a fabric "hook". I'll show you in step 9 how I covered up the part of the hanger that jettisons out.

4. Start sewing together your ruffles. Fold your circles in halves and thread thru the center of the circle, like this:

5. Now continue to add on circles, always threading from the center of the circle. Some you'll add as halves, and others you can fold into quarters. I add about 6 circles to get a nice fluffy ruffle.

Adding a half piece.

Adding a quarter piece.

6. Do NOT tie off your thread. Keep your needle and thread attached to your ruffle, as seen below.

7. Now circle the thread around the hanger. You are sewing your ruffle to the hanger. You should loop the thread around the hanger a few times to make sure it is secure.

8. Keep the ruffle nice and tightly close to the wire. Once it's attached, tie off your thread. First ruffle is complete. Now you keep repeating this process all the way around the hanger.

9. Remember in step 3 I said I would show you how I covered up the part of the hanger that sticks out? (below)

I put a bow over it!

10. I added gold ribbon ties sporadically. Here is the finished product!

Coasters!

After a month away I've begun to be craftsy again.
This weekend I hit up both Jo-Anne's fabrics and Michaels for lots of supplies.
This first craft is very simple (and cheap), it actually a great craft for kids. I remember doing it in kindergarten.

Set of 4 Coasters

First I went to Home Depot and bought a set of 4 blank white tiles. These fun less than a quarter a piece. I think mine were $.12 each. (It was an interesting check out, to say the least.)

For this project you want to use enamel paint/glass paint. you can find enamel paint in your local crafts store.

My twelve cent tile.


Fist thing I did was paint a picture on my tile. I used the same 3 colors, but I chose different pictures for each tile. This is a good project for kids because the paint washes off hands easily. You want to be quick with your enamel paint though as it does quickly.
After you finish painting your tiles you should place them in the oven on 400 degrees for about 15 minutes. This part is important because it allows the paint to set. You want to make sure you let the tiles cool completely before you handle them again. i just let mine cool in the oven for about 2 hours before I came back to work with them.

While your tiles are cooling we need to crate a backing for our coasters. If we leave the tiles un-backed they will scuff your tables with their rough edges. I used felt for my backing. I used a quarter to trace my outline.


I need 4 circles per tile.

I adhered my circles with super glue. You could also use craft glue or a hot glue gun.

I used gloves when working with super glue so that I could press each felt square into place without super gluing my fingers. (I also signed the back of all my tiles, obviously you don't have to do this part.)

My pretty finshed coasters!