Wednesday, June 27, 2012

Craft Project! Ribbon Blossoms



Any crafter will tell you the details are important.  It’s what makes your items stand out from the others.  One of my Favorite books is “Delight in the Details” by Lisa M. Pace.  This book is loaded with embellishments and accents to keep your glue busy and cover your self in glitter.  Today we’re making Ribbon (or Paper) Blossoms!  Lets Get Crafting.....

Materials:
  •  Ribbon or Paper.  The Book has you use ribbon but I have found it works with paper as well.  Lightweight paper would be best.
  • Glue
  • Scissors
  • Awl, Hole Punch or Crop-a-Dile
  • Embellishments: I like to use Brads for this project. As you make these your mind will go crazy with the possibilities.


Steps:

  1. Cut six strips of ribbon, or paper, 5 ½” long and basically any width you want.  I like to make then 1” wide.
  2. Place three strips of ribbon, or paper, face down on your work surface.  Layer two of the strips in a cross shape and one strip down the center.
  3. Fold the end of the bottom strip toward the center, and secure with a dot of adhesive.
  4. Fold the next strip (in the middle layer) toward the center and secure.  The fold the strip on top and secure it.  You should now have a flower with six “petals.” Repeat steps 2-4 to create another flower.
  5. Stack the two flowers, staggering the placement of the petals.  Punch a hole in the center using you Awl, Hole Punch or a Crop-a-Dile and insert a brad to secure the stack.
  6. Enjoy!  If you use a decorative brad you’re basically done.  If you are using a plan brad you can glue a rhinestone, button, something cool from a paper punch or whatever you want to embellish it with.


The scrap box pictured above I entered into a Holiday Craft Contest.  The Blossom gives the box that just wrapped present feel.  Perfect for Holiday treats and treasures.

Keep on Crafting!

by Lisa M. Pace

Monday, June 25, 2012

The Never Ending Blanket




I FINALLY finished the Never Ending Blanket! I made a super cute Granny Square blanket for one of my nieces.  It was her Christmas present.  She loves blankets (and who doesn’t) so I wanted to make her a more grown up blanket since she is now 5 years old and the others she has are from when she was born.  I made them look like little flowers cause she is ultra girlie. Wellllllllllll I severely under estimated how big she has gotten and it was too small. So being awesome Aunt Leslie I made more granny squares to attach.  Now 2 months it is done.  It went from 26”x26” to 50”x50.”  My sister has already joked that I will be making this blanket bigger until she gets married. HA! It might be a good idea to have extra squares made for whenever it needs an expansion.  I used my favorite Caron Simply Soft Yarn! I’m hoping this size will last her awhile.  I love her and would do anything to see her happy face. 

Happy Crafting!

Wednesday, June 20, 2012

Crafty Project: Mercury Rising Glass Awesomeness

How many times do you go Target, Homes Goods or any other store selling cool decorative vases and glass vessels and think “How cool is that?!” Well now become a master at recreating those one-of-a-kind items. This one is Super Easy, Super Quick and Super Decorative. Your friends will be asking in no time “Where did you get that?” This craft comes to you courtesy of DIY Magazine Spring 2012.


Materials:

Clear Glass Vessel. You can find one at any craft store or other retail location selling such items.

Spray/Spritz bottle

Krylon Looking Glass Spray Paint. This may need to be ordered but Krylon also makes Metallic Sprays and try one of those for fun!

Get Your Craft On!

1. Clean your glass vessel

2. Spritz the inside of your vessel with water. It should bead up and run out of the vessel but not a waterfall full.

3. While the water is wet spray the inside of the vessel with the Looking Glass or Metallic spray paint. Spray 1 coat and let dry before applying another coat of spray paint.

4. Once vessel is dry you are Finished! Place it where it will Sparkle in the sunlight and Enjoy.



I do not recommend filling this with water and using it as a vase since the paint will start to come off. You can spray the inside with a protective coating but in the long run I urge you against it. If you want to use it as a vase place a small container inside that will hold water without damaging your lovely piece.



Happy Craftin! And See You Next Time

Monday, June 18, 2012

Product Review: Tulip Fabric Spray Paint


Fabric is a great versatile canvas to make art and express your creativity.  My mom, the ever supportive parent, picked up Tulip Fabric Spray Paint in Hot Pick for me to try out on some book cloth I was making.  Well can I tell you how much fun I had?! I took a plain bright yellow piece of fabric I had, marked off a grid pattern with some blue painters tape and went at it.  The package tells you how to get a mist effect or a splatter effect.  I tried both and mainly got the splatter effect even when I tried the "mist" effect.  The splatter effect gave it more character I think.  In the image below you will see how the paint comes out. 

You can see it has some heavier more saturated spots but the overall look is somewhat misty.  At CraftsUnleashed Meet it Monday you can see how they use different techniques working with this paint. It works well with stencils as long as you have a good bond or seal with you stencil.  Check out Tulips website ILoveToCreate.com for colors and spray packages. So Get Your Craft On and try out Tulip Fabric Spray Paint.  For people looking for a new tool and technique to add to their textile arsenal.  

Keep Craftin!

Monday, June 11, 2012

Product Review: Blue Hawk Plastic Anchors


I like to think of myself as a pretty handy girl when it comes to tools but there is one thing I have struggled with for awhile and that's using wall anchors.  Whether it's to hang curtains, mirrors, shelves you name it I usually have to ask for help.  One of the problems is where I live, Washington DC.  Some people may not know this but DC was built on top of a swamp so it gets really muggy, hot and humid which is drywalls worst nightmare.  I love to decorate with curtains.  I find them to be better than blinds and more pleasing to the eye.  You know the weather has turned damp because one day you get home and find half of your curtain rod is laying on the floor and your pets are hiding because it freaked them out.  The solution for this problem is to get some wall anchors to give extra grip and strength to your screws and curtain brackets.  My biggest problem when it came to wall anchors is finding the right size drill bit.  I either choose too small or too big.  I looked online for some help and only got "find the right drill bit for your screws." OK so how do I determine which is the right size?  Blue Hawk to the recuse!!  The have come up with the best solution to my problem....they package drill bits with the anchors...Hooray.  Now I have the right size every time.  The set I bought comes with 2 different size screws, anchors and drill bits. Now anytime I need more I can buy the exact same size screws and anchors without guessing the drill bit.  I just moved into my first home and of course wanted to hang curtains. I made my markings, drill the hole and inserted the corresponding wall anchor.  It fit! And it was so easy.  Now I have curtains all over my house and I don't worry about them falling out anymore.  Plus drill bits are one of those things that I believe you can never have enough of.  I fully recommend looking for Blue Hawk the next time you are in need of wall anchors.  You won't be disappointed. I know I'm not.

Happy Craftin!

Friday, June 8, 2012

Bias Bonanza!! The Experiment Continues....

OK so my bias tape experiments were getting pretty interesting. It’s much easier to make the tape that to use it. I looked online and tried all these methods people we suggesting. Here it goes……


1. Iron your bias tape after pinning it. Alright you’re supposed to stitch in the fold but after I ironed it my fold was gone.

2. Iron it into a curved shape before attaching. The more I curved it started to overlap on itself.

3. Ironing also melted the plastic tops on my straight pins.

4. I found 1 video on sewing “Bias on a Curve” and it just whizzed on through the tutorial with no close-ups of the machine. What’s up with that?

5. Attach your bias tape on the back first. All I can say is no cause then when I folded it over the back looked better than the front.

6. Buy a bias tape maker. I did but my bias came out all wrinkly.

7. Scrunch the tape so there’s extra in the back when you fold it over. Huh? All it did was give me folds in my bias tape that ended up getting stitched down and showed when I folded it over.

8. Lots of pins. OK now that helped.

After many attempts and lots of strange looking experiments I decided I needed to start from the beginning. I got a new yard of fabric out of my closet and made sure I cut 45 degrees of the salvage. I used an iron and my see-through ruler, lined up my ruler along the bottom of my tape and ironed it in place folding over where I wanted my bias fold to be. I took it to my project and pinned my tape in place. When I didn’t have to pull, scrunch or fold….it just laid down so nice and flat…..I jumped for joy. I didn’t want the back to get folded and wrinkle so I pinned on the front, turned it over and pinned on the back so the bottom straight part of the pin helped hold the loose fabric down. I did not sew inside the fold of the tape. Instead I watched to make sure I stayed at 5/8th of on inch that’s on my sewing machine. I it for a straight stitch and my smallest stitch length and it WORKED! Oh all this fussing and it worked. I brought it into work so show a friend and brought it to my mom to show her. Now it’s time to try it on my full size project. And I know can make my own working bias tape. What a relief.

 
Keep on Craftin :D

Wednesday, June 6, 2012

Pinned Perfection: Cork Pushpins


The craft project this week comes to us from DIY Magazine Summer Issue 2012.  So let's spruce up those works spaces, grab your supplies and let's get started!

Materials:
Corks from Wine Bottles
Drill with Drill Bits
Pushpins, You can do this with either Flat Top pins or Regular Knobbed Pins
Strong Glue
Fun items to attach to them

Steps:
1. Glue the Pushpin perpendicular to the Cork.  If you are using the Knobbed Pins drill a hole halfway through your cork without going through the other side and glue the knob inside your cork.
2. Let Dry
3. Finished!

Attached important papers, fun pictures, dried flowers or any other memento to display. Use you pins to create a fun design on the wall.

I LOVE fun, easy and quick crafts :)

Happy Craftin!

Monday, June 4, 2012

Product Review: Caron Simply Soft Yarn



I don’t know if I can say any more about how much I LOVE Caron’s Simply Soft Yarn. The name says it all….Soft. I have found it to be the softest acrylic yarn on the market. It’s a medium weight yarn, size 8 needles for a 4”x4” square with 18 stitches and 24 rows. For the crochet-ers an H-8 US hook is recommended. I have made this my go-to yarn for any project needing a tough, durable but lovely yarn. Some of my past projects have been potholders, blankets, scarves, bags and wrist warmers. The other plus it’s that it’s majorly affordable. AND it’s machine washable. Pop it in and it will as good as new. Looking through my local craft store flyers I found that it is one sale frequently. Carriers of Simply Soft include Michael’s Arts & Crafts, AC Moore, JoAnn Fabrics and Wal-Mart.


The color selection is amazing. They have everything from soft colors to party colors. Check out the website for their wide variety…..http://www.caron.com/color_cards/cc_simplysoft.html. Currently I am working on a granny square blanket for my niece. She out grew it and has requested I make it bigger. She went to her mom, my sister and said “Mommy, I don’t think Aunt Leslie knows I’m turning 5. The blanket is too small.” Too Cute! I am using the Party Colors Fuchsia Sparkle and Purple Sparkle, which both of us are lovin.

So the next time you want a fun and super soft yarn consider Simply Soft. I know I will.

For fun projects be sure to check out the Caron website! http://www.caron.com/free.html

Happy Crafting :)

Friday, June 1, 2012

The Night Of Bias Tape


Tonight I decided to learn how to make double folded bias tape.  I have never made a single fold tape let alone double fold bias tape.  My most recent project requires some bias tape around the edge but the largest size my local fabric store had was only 7/8" wide double folded.  My project is about 4 layers thick and that size bias just wasn't cutting it.  I consulted my mommy craft guru and she suggested I make my own.  So I went to the craft store (it's closer to my house than the fabric store and didn't want to drive during rush hour) to buy a new rotary blade and 2 of those plexi-glass see through rulers. Learning something new is a great excuse to buy new fun craft toys.  I grabbed some scrap fabric from my closet, grabbed my self healing mat and got to work.  Of course I needed my thinking T.V. show, Top Gear on BBC America.  I don't know what it is about that show but I always have it on in the background.  Those 3 guys crack me up!  It could also be because it is on all the time.  So.....got my supplies, got my guys and started looking on the internet for help.  First I tried a continuous bias tape, ok too advanced for a beginner.  I found a lot of videos on cutting bias tape but not a lot on making bias tape WITHOUT a bias tape maker.  That little metal foldy thingy.  I wanted old school crafting ingenuity.  Pins, Iron, Scissors and nimble hands.  After about 5 million websites, blog posts and videos I put all my knowledge together and pieced it together and I was pleasantly surprised with the outcome.  I need to use larger fabric but I was able to achieve the size I wanted...1 1/4 inch wide when finished (picture above).  I haven't sewn with it yet but I am already feeling hopeful.  The best advice I can give is keep your pieces the same width and patience.  One of the reasons I watch Top Gear is because they make me laugh which helps keep the stress to a minimum, especially when they do funny challenges.  But please if you have any suggestions, advice or helpful tips people gave you please share!  As for my night of bias tape I look forward to the variety of fabric I can now choose.
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