Several months back, I purchased this old window at a savage sale, and finally, I decided to do something with it. I found an image online of similar-styled flowers, and I was inspired!
I find it rather annoying to paint on windows. I just use acrylic paint, but if you know of short cut or trick, I would love to know! Though I do like that if you make a mistake, you can easily wipe it off and start again.
I stand by the fact that the easiest decorations for a party/event are flags. Last week was THE Samford event I have been planning since the beginning of this year – Spring Fling. It is basically a week full of free food and activities for Samford students to enjoy. And being one of the people in charge or planning and executing the event, I will admit, I made sure it had my signature on it.
The project was really simple. At Walmart, I purchased packs of spring colored cotton fabric. I cut them into squares, trying to keep the sizes consistent. Once cut out, I used the overcast stitch around the edges, simply to make sure the fabric wouldn’t unravel in the wind.
Then I took basic twine, purchased again from Walmart, and sewed the flag and the twine in place using my zipper foot.
I was lucky enough to work on this project mostly at home – where my work space is much more spacious, but this project is simple enough that I could have easily pulled it off in the small confines of my dorm room.
Simple and beautiful!
I was digging through some stuff when I stumble across these fabric flowers I had made a long time ago. It got me thinking – I had seen this article in the Wall Street Journal about how barrettes are now back in fashion. So I pulled out some adhesive glue and a barrette and got to work.
First, to make the flowers, I cut out circles in the white, cotton fabric I had (but really any fabric works. I once made the same thing out of toile and it turned out great!)
Then I folded the circle in half, and then in half again (see picture above). Then I took a needle and thread and sewed the bottom point in place.
Repeat that step, sewing each new piece to the others. Pay attention to how each piece is arranged because sometime it can just look like a stack of fabric and not really a flower.
Finally, I used my adhesive glue to attach the flowers to the barrette. The whole thing gives me a flashback to the 90s – scrunchies, tights and outrageous hair bows – but it looks cutes nonetheless.
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.
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.
The longest running Samford tradition is in full swing, and it would be an understatement to say that Step Sing is sort-of taking over my life. I will admit the crafting has not been very active, but I’m hoping after today’s trip to Hobby Lobby, things will turn around. (Now I’ll just need to find some spare time.)
In the midst of the craziness, I have been doing projects here and there, but of course, they are all Step Sing related. And being in the Independent Ladies’ show, everything is looking green (aka our official color).
First project – I volunteered to decorate our show’s bucket we use to collect donations for the show’s charity. And of course, with limited time and a limited budget, I fell back on good ol’ felt.
I created stencils out of basic printing paper before cutting the felt. And then, to give the letters a little sparkle, I used glittery, green felt as the background. (Note – I usually despise glitter (it gets everywhere), but I really wanted the letters to pop! So I guess the sacrifice was worth it).
Once the letters were done, I glued them onto the bucket that was already adorned with camo felt. The one problem I did not anticipate was the size of the letters. If I could do this again, I would most definitely make the letters smaller so you could read the whole thing without having to spin the bucket, but oh well. It’s done and I think it turned out cute.
Project #2: Indie Ladies flag
I literally made this flag in 30 minutes, so I wasn’t surprised that after two waves, the white fabric began to fray. But the important thing is that it’s green and it boldly displays our letters. I bought an American flag at Walmart, and after gently removing the flag, I used the stick for my own.
And finally: Encouragement baskets for a few of the other shows.
And yes, I did make a special trip to Publix to purchase green bags. What can I say, I’ve been seeing green more and more everyday. If you are in the Birmingham area next weekend (Feb. 10-12), you should definitely try to catch a Samford Step Sing show. It’s going to be amazing!
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.
The other day I was looking through an old suitcase that my mom stores ribbons and buttons in, and I stumble upon a how-to booklet containing this cute/horrifying picture.
Funny story is, my mom actually made that bow for me when I was younger, but I bet the bow was not the first thing your eyes went to. (I think it’s the glasses that make her eyes looks so huge!) But weird picture aside, the book inspired me. And with some ribbon, an obsession was formed.
I can see how my Mom had so much fun making bows to match my outfits. And though I don’t think you’ll be seeing me wear a bow to class, Samford has this thing called Step Sing and I’m thinking a different bow for each day’s practice! And then, while I had the glue gun out, I made a simple barrette with buttons. It was a good craft day!
You really can make anything out of felt. My sister-in-law’s birthday was this week, and my parents knew they wanted to give her money but they wanted to add little something to go with it. That’s when the idea for a felt passport holder popped in my head. Now, if I could make it again, I would make some changes, but for a project that took me a few hours to make, I was super happy with the results.
I took my passport and a leather passport holder that I already owned as a stencil. I used a disappearing ink pen for dark fabrics to make the outline.
Though I took this picture right before I sewed it all together, it shows the steps that led me up to this point. I cut out fabric for the left and right sleeves. Then I top stitched the edges. (Plus I added a little personalized touch with an embroidered name.)
I used felt to cut out the tree, and I simply hand sewed it down. For the flowers, I cut out a little felt circle then embroidered a dot at the center at each one.
After pinning everything in place, I sewed everything together. It didn’t turn out perfect, but I like that it looked obviously homemade.
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.
For the Love of Felt 