Category Archives: Home Decor

DIY: Cloth Napkins

What’s fancier than having a cloth napkin? Think about it, have you ever been to a nice restaurant that sets the table with paper napkins and plastic silverware? No, of course not. So I have decided that even though the college lifestyle has been defined by paper plates and plastic cups in the past, we are a generation with more of a refined taste. (Or we should try to be at least).

On a college budget, purchasing these napkins could be a little pricing (depending on where you go), so of course, I highly suggest the option of making them for yourself.

I chose to make 16″ squares for my napkins, so with the patterned fabric, I measured and cut a 17″ square. Then with the solid fabric, I measured and cut a 16″ square. I laid out the two fabrics with the patterned side on the bottom and wrong sides together.

I then took an iron and pressed up the sides of the patterned fabric, pinning the fabric in place for the moment.

Once sitting down at the sewing machine, I folded the edge under again so the frayed edges was not visible. Then I simply straight stitched the edge.

It’s as simple as that. Now nothing is stopping you from living a life free of paper napkins and plastic forks!

Note: I used 1.5 yards of each fabric to create 5 napkins.

A Picture Frame with Leftover Yarn

Ever finish a knitting project and realize that your leftover yarn is too much to simply throw away but too little to start another project? Well, do I have a solution for you.

For a friend’s birthday, I knew I wanted to make her a picture frame, but I wanted it to be something I had never made before. So with some leftover yarn, a wooden frame from Hobby Lobby, and some Mod Podge, I made this adorable, textured picture frame.

To make, I simply painted on a layer of Mod Podge and attached the yarn at a slight diagonal, trimming off the edges. The whole thing took me 20 minutes to put together.

I played around with adding another layer of yarn or a cluster of buttons, but everything seemed too “crafty cliche.” So in the end, I decided that simplicity was beautiful. The frame didn’t need to be busy; it just needs to show off the picture.

For your Sweetheart: A Valentine’s Garland

I simply adore Valentine’s Day! Not for the romantic element, but for the fact that it is socially acceptable to go over the top with heart-inspired decorations. This project is the first dorm room project of the spring semester, and I am completely obsessed with it!

I gathered my supplies – red, pink and white fleece squares (I know, I’m usually all about felt, but I thought the fleece had softer colors), embroidery floss, some leftover quilt backing and a heart stencil I cut out myself.

The whole thing is pretty simple. I first cut out the backing using the paper stencil I made. Then using the backing, I cut out the fleece, making the hearts slightly larger.

Once the hearts were cut out, I used the floss to embroider on the cute saying one would find in a Sweetheart candy box. I stuck to the more classic sayings. Though I did find one on google images that said “Tweet Me,” I held back and stuck with the ones I could remember from my childhood. “U R GR8” might be my favorite!

After that, I placed the backing inside the hearts. I chose to use yarn as my string that would holds the garland together, and once everything was in place, I pinned it all together.

And as you can see, the sewing machine was pulled out to stitch it all in place. The final result is simply adorable, and adds an element of cuteness that our common room needed.

For a Cozier Bed: Knitted Pillows

Returning to my dorm room this past weekend was a little bittersweet. The holidays are officially over, and as you can see by my lack of posts, the busyiness of school has begun. Though one of the many positives, like reuniting with friends and the start of Step Sing, is returning to a room full of finished projects I can show off during the busy times.

Take for example the knitted pillows on my bed.

This was the project that made me fall in love with knitting all over again. The pillow is basically a rectangle knitted in garter stitch, and then stitched together with a white ribbon.

Since this was before I had a sewing machine, I bought a basic pillow from a craft store, and I was able to use the pillow as the mold for the size of my knitting. And as a final touch, I embroidered (in a kind-of made up style) a flower onto the pink pillow.

For you super fast knitters, this project could be completed in a weekend, but for me, this took me about 2 and a half weeks. But its simplicity makes it the perfect project for watching a movie on a lazy afternoon.

Knitting a Hot Pad

If you have an hour to spare, you can totally make this knitting project – a simple hot pad. And this is not the hot pad you made in 3rd grade. You are going to be knitting with two threads, so the first step is creating a second ball of yarn (about 25 grams). Then with the two threads, cast on 21 to 27 stitches  (depending on the thickness of the yarn), but always cast on an odd number. Then use the seed stitch (knit 1, purl 1) until you have knitted a square. The important thing to know about seed stitch is you need to start and end the row with a knit stitch.

Once you have finished knitting the square, cut a square of fabric and press (meaning pull our your ironing board) down the hem allowances. Then all you have to do is whip stitch the fabric to the knitting.

Look to the Stars: Constellations Embroidery

I worked at a camp this summer that opened my eyes to the different, cultural stories about the constellations in the night’s sky, and I quickly became obsessed. This idea of embroidering a constellation has been floating around my  head for awhile now, and it took a simple swatch of navy blue fabric in the clearance bin at Hobby Lobby to put my thoughts into action.

Gemini (The Twins)

Orion (The Warrior)

Pegasus (The Winged Horse)

I cut out navy blue felt to cover the back side of the embroidery and added the name to the constellation for any clarification that might be needed. I love how simple this project was, and after I get some nails in the wall, it’s going to look adorable in my green bedroom.

A Wreath of Felt Flowers

Days like these (when you’re snowed in and have nothing to do) are excellent craft days. And even when the snow covers the ground, flowers can still bloom.

Felt flowers are super simple to make. To make enough to fit on this wreath, I simply bought a half a yard of white felt. Cut out the felt using a CD as a stencil, and then cut the circle into a spiral. To create the flower, simply roll up the spiral, starting from the outside. Once rolled up, use a dot of hot glue on the final flap to secure it in place.

Easy! For my wreath, I wanted different sized flowers so I cut a spiral in half to make two smaller flowers instead of just one. Once the flowers were made, I simply used a hot glue gun to glue the flowers onto the wreath.

A little bit of Outer Space

My final project for my Physical Geography class this semester was to make something creative. (And yes, I am in college). Being the person that I am, I fully embraced this project and made something that took far longer than the 4-hour minimum…

The Solar System made out of felt!

I tried to make each object look as realistic as possible (when made out of felt). And I added some other materials to add a touch of detail. For example, each rocky planet (aka Mercury, Venus, Earth and Mars – along with the moon) is outlined with cardboard. And each gaseous planets and the Sun are outlined in toile.

I just felt weird not included Pluto. I grew up being told it was a planet, and I guess I just haven’t been able to wrap my head around the fact that there are only 8 official planets. So Pluto was included, but note, it was optional.

And just in case people didn’t know which planet was which, I did a little embroidering on the back side to clarify.

My professor hung it up in the classroom after I presented it, and yes, I will repeat, this was for a college class. Figure that out for me, then figure out how I got a 99 on the project. (After working on it for 2 week, I feel like I have to right to be a little bitter!)