Crafts Archives - Page 18 of 45

corduroy and felt pillows, Crafts, decor, Decor Adventures, Decorating, Home Decor, Pillows, Sewing

Birch Tree Pillows

One thing that gets me ready for the fall season is to bring natural elements into my home. Although, they don’t actually have to be real, you can create them with some fabric and a little sewing. I’ve wanted to change up the pillows in our living room for a while, and these birch tree pillows are the perfect touch for fall. They are super easy to make, without any special tools!

I made these with fabric I had on hand and 20″ pillow forms, however you can adjust the size based on pillow forms you have. I also made them with a 1″ “trim” around the edges as an envelope cover (meaning the pillow form slips inside the cover without the use of a zipper.)

Materials

Fabric in your choice of color for the pillow base
White felt for the trees
Measuring tape
Scissors
Pencil
Fabric glue, optional
Sewing machine
20″ pillow form

Instructions

1. Prepare the fabric to sew it into a pillow cover by cutting a piece that is 21 1/2″ x 45″ long. This shape will make up the front of the pillow and overlap in the back to form the envelope. Iron the cut piece to remove any wrinkles.

2. Sew a hem on both of the shortest 21 1/2″ ends so you have a nice finished seam on each. You will see one of these from the back of the pillow. Set this piece aside for the moment.

DIY Block Print Stamped Tea Towel

Hey there! It’s Melissa from The Happier Homemaker back again with a fun and easy DIY tutorial you can even get the kiddos involved with! I’ve been noticing block printing coming up a lot in my home decor magazines and catalogs lately. Last week when I was prepping a little rainy day potato stamping activity for my 3 boys, I decided it may be time to try a little block printing DIY of my own.

Supplies:

Flour Sack Tea Towels
Large Raw Baking Potato
Knife
Craft Paint
Fabric Medium
Iron and Ironing Board

Instructions:

Cut your potato in half and use your knife to {carefully} cut your design. Simple shapes work best for this type of stamping.

On a paper plate, or paint palette, mix your craft paint with fabric medium in a 2:1 ratio (or according to fabric medium instructions.) Read more

August 27, 2014/5 Comments/by Melissa Riker

arts and craft, Crafts, DIY, Do It Yourself, Gift Ideas, gifts, silhouette, Tutorial, Uncategorized

DIY “Eat Your Veggies” Cloth Napkin Gift Set

Bringing a hostess gift to someone whose home you are staying in is apparently a pretty universal thing. I had never heard of such a thing until I was in my late 20’s. It’s not a mind blowing concept but I have come to appreciate the simplicity of the thoughtful gesture. Granted, if you are a “Real Housewife”, then I’m pretty sure if you don’t show up with a bottle of Cristal you get the stink eye. Hostess gifts don’t have to be spendy, they just need to be thoughtful. Today I am going to show you how to create an inexpensive gift for the hostess with a sense of humor. Gather around and learn how to make these “Eat Your Veggies” cloth napkins.

Materials:

Silhouette Cutter
Computer
Iron on Heat Transfer material
Napkins
Iron
Ironing Board
Towel
Tape Measure

Instructions:

Start by pre-washing the napkins. Measure how big the lettering should be by folding the napkin (half fold or quarter fold napkins) and measure the printable area.

Arrange the words as you would like them to appear on the napkins. Watch your dimensions! Duplicate the image as many times as you have napkins.

Right click on the image and flip the image horizontally. This will be the mirror image allowing the words to be read once they are applied to the napkin.

Send the wording or images to the Silhouette or other craft cutter.

Once the image is cut, weed out the negative spaces. Read more

August 13, 2014/0 Comments/by Jacque Knowlton

accessories, Birthday Gift, Crafts, Gift Ideas, gift wrapping, gifts, Sewing

Sew Easy Anthropologie Cloth Napkin Gift Bags

When I want to give a small gift as a thank you or to make someone’s day I like to dress it up by presenting the gift in a little fabric drawstring pouch. These cloth napkin gift bags are “sew” easy to make and they cost about 1/3 the cost of the cloth napkin! Gather a few simple supplies and your sewing supplies and join me.

Materials:

Cloth napkin
Thread
Baker’s string or thin ribbon
Seam ripper
Scissors
Safety pin
Chopstick, paint brush or other stick type object

Instructions:

Fold the cloth napkin into fourths. Cut along the folds to yield four squares.

Fold the napkin fabric in half right sides together. Read more

August 11, 2014/9 Comments/by Brittany Bailey

accessories, arts and craft, Build It, Chalkboard paint, Crafts, decor, DIY, Home Decor, Home Office, kids art, Lowe's Creative Idea, moulding, nailgun, Tool Tutorials, Tutorial

Chalkboard Memo Board – The Time I Made a 4th Grade Teacher Use a Power Tool

DIY Chalkboard Memo Board (4th grade project) | Pretty Handy Girl

Before the end of the school year a REALLY GOOD friend of mine asked if I would give a talk in her daughter’s class about what I do for a living. I hemmed and hawed because I rarely have the free time. But, the main reason I was hesitant was because I didn’t know how to talk to 4th graders about what I do. Saying I’m a blogger is something that is hard for me to vocalize. “I write a blog” sounds simple and easy. But, in actuality, I do so many other things to make this blog a reality. Just a few of my job descriptions are: writer, photographer, builder, crafter, teacher, photo editor, business woman, manager, social media coordinator, graphic designer, web designer and all around handy girl! How could I explain all of that to the students?

Suddenly, an idea hit me! I would waltz into that classroom and use my platform to break down the stereotypes about women and handy people within 30 minutes (or less!) Then I’d empower the 4th grade students by letting them build their own chalkboard memo board AND use a power tool! Lofty goals, but I felt sure I could do it. Little did I know that the students wouldn’t be the only one empowered.

The quiz:

I started out by talking to the kids about what a handy person is. They shared terms that fit the definition of a handy person: fixes things, builder, carpenter, plumber, woodworker, and home improvement specialist. Then I showed them a slide presentation and gave the kids a quiz asking them to tell me which of these people are handy:

I showed them one picture at a time and as expected, they got all of the answers wrong.

The answers: Read more

August 8, 2014/22 Comments/by Brittany Bailey