Santa Silhouette - Tutorial

It's no secret that us crafters love making our own holiday decor, ornaments and gifts! What we don't like is a craft that costs us a lot of money and takes a lot of time to make! Ugh. No thank you! I want need my precious time for baking cookies, watching cheesy Hallmark movies and buying presents! Here is a VERY easy and inexpensive project that I whipped up this last week:

A Santa Silhouette!

Materials that you will need:

construction paper (color of your choice) 

frame - with backboard

background paper (I choose brown postal paper) 

Scissors and/or exacto knife

pencil

glue

Begin by measuring the backboard of your frame and cutting your background paper to size. Glue it down and let dry.

Next, find an image on the Internet by googling "Santa Silhouette" and select a Santa that you like. Print it off from your computer. I chose this copyright free image.

This part is a little tricky, but I know how crafty and talented you all are and I have faith that you can do it! You can either cut out your printed image and trace around it onto your paper, OR if you are like me and needed a larger image to fit into your frame, I had to free hand it! Which was fine, because I wanted to personalize it by adding more detail to his hair, hat trim and pom-pom. 

Hint: Trace or draw your image on the reverse side of your paper. That way you can flip your image over when you are done and you won't see pencil and eraser marks.

Next, start to cut out your image using your scissors or if you have hard to reach areas, you will need an exacto knife. 

Position your silhouette onto your background paper and glue down.

FYI: I painted my frame black. Burgundy isn't my thing! 

Easy peasy, right!

Cost of materials:

Postal paper - $Free (I had it left over from this craft)

Construction paper - $1.50 at Michael's by using a coupon from here. Just click on the "craft coupon" button on the top of the page
Frame: thrifted for $1.00

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Total cost: $2.50

Time to make it: 45 minutes

Loved your visit! Until next time...

Project Soft Book: COMPLETE!

A HUGE project that has been a long time in the making is now complete! A project that took presidence over any other craft for the past several months. Hooray it is finished...kind of! 

Several months ago, my DIY club decided to take on a major task. One that would go into the record books for our club and be talked about amongst ourselves well into our old age. We decided to make a soft book for our children! A 20 page soft book! My dear friend, Nicole, was the ringleader of the group and had it organized, scheduled and perfected. There are rules to this kind of thing, ya know! All 20 of us signed up to make a specific page that we would design and then hand produce 20 of that page. We had to sew each background, each decoration and each activity onto our page - no gluing! Nicole also figured out a good size ( 9X12) and what material (canvas) was best.  We also had to sign up on a list so stating what we were going to make so that 2 people didn't end up doing the same page. At the end, we would swap our pages and end up with 20 activity pages for an incredible soft book! We got together several times over the past few months to work on the pages and it seemed like the challenges and the work was never ending! From cutting the canvas, shopping for materials, hand cutting all pieces then sewing it all onto the 20 pages - I can say this definitely was a labor of love! 

Well, the end finally came on Tuesday night! We got together and swapped the pages, celebrated and rejoiced! I was so incredibly happy with the results and felt very lucky to be part of such a talented and amazing group of women! I just marvel at each of their pages and imagine them working so diligently on them - with care, precision and passion!

A HUGE thanks to all the crafty and amazing women in our group! Several of them have blogs too so feel free to stop on by their blogs and check out their talent yourselves!

Nicole with Elsa Bags

Caroline with Armelle the Blog

Susan with Freshly Picked

Eva, Stephanie and Kristin with Sycamore Street Press

Karisa with Pretty Handsome Paper

Dear Tia working so hard on getting the pages bound together!

Caroline is a multitasker! Shoot the breeze and sewing all at the same time!

Susan is a team player! She helped trim the canvas pages to size, removing fringe and dangling strings and made them easier to sew!

The gang is all here! 15 women, one house, one mission!

Karisa was a total trooper the whole way! She worked on her pages at 9 months pregnant, then showed up with new baby Harper by her side to get it all done!

The work!

Amy, Kristin and Eva taking a break with a few sips of Diet Coke and good conversation!

No party is complete without a table full of delicious treats to fill the bellies!

I am up to my ears in soft book pages and I could not be happier! Now I am off to the fabric store to buy some bias tape for the edges! 

Have any of you made soft books?

Do you belong to a craft club?

Have you ever gotten yourself into the middle of a project and realized you may be in over your head?

Published!

I never thought in my widest dreams that it would happen! But, it did! Someone took a liking to something that little ol' me created and they wanted to put it on the pages of a magazine! 

I was contacted by the kind people of Mollie Makes magazine out of the UK a few weeks ago and they asked if they could publish the tutorial for my Infinity Scarf. (It is the #3 search on Google for "Infinity Scarf tutorial", ya know!) The issue was doing a feature on tartan fabric and lucky for me, my scarf fit the needs and style of the magazine. I am so thrilled that they contacted me and even though I highly stressed about having to recreate the tutorial and all the photos in high resolution for printing purposes, it was well worth it! I could not be happier about this opportunity! A big thanks to all the people of Mollie Makes for "making" it happen! Dreams really do come true!

P.S. Be sure to check out Mollie Makes blog! It's right along the lines of spectacular! 

Pssssst! When I did this tutorial last year, I got a few emails from readers wanting to know where the plaid fabric was purchased. I got it at JoAnn's  and when I was there 2 weeks ago, I saw that they had it in again this year! Run and grab it before it sells out!

Loved your visit! Until next time...

DIY Rain Boot Liners - Tutorial

It's inevitable. It happens every year. There is absolutely nothing you can do to stop it. It's called: Winter. Earlier this summer I bought a sturdy pair of rain *boots for a family camping trip that I have since fallen in love with! I just wanted them to be a little softer, warmer and more comfortable so I came up with the idea of making my own liners - instead of paying the costly price for the designer brand ones sold in high end department stores. Besides, I am not one for labels showing on my attire. I loathe them. I think these are a pretty good, if not better, substitute! 

Materials that you will need:
3/4 yard of fleece
decorative *fabric of your choice - at least 1/4 yard.

I used a plaid scarf to make mine!

I found a tutorial awhile back on Prudent Baby for a pair of slippers with a free pattern provided. I decided to use their template and instructions to make the bootie part of the liner. Click HERE for the pattern.

Next, I laid down my boot to measure how high and how wide I wanted the leg of the liner to be. I then cut two pieces that will fit appropriately inside of the boot. 

You should have the following pieces before you can begin to sew.

I followed the instructions from Prudent Baby and I sewed my foot pieces to the "horse shoe" looking piece. Start at the toe of your pieces and sew along one side. Then come back to the toe and sew along the other side. This will assure that your 2 pieces will line up correctly and you won't have issues when you get to the heel. Leave the back open - do not sew closed, yet. 

After sewing those 2 pieces together, you should have what is a makeshift looking slipper with the back still open.

(excuse the dry white legs!)

Next, I folded the leg part of the liner in half to find the center and then pinned it to the top of the bootie. Doing the same steps as before, start sewing from the center and then along each side so that it will match up in the back.

You should have something that looks like this when you are done! This is also a good point and opportunity to size things how you want them. Do you need to take in the leg, trim the height of the liner, take more in at the heel...etc?

Once you have custom fit your liner, you an sew up the back to close it. They should look like this.

Now measure you leg opening and cut your fabric to A) the measurement of the width of your opening PLUS an extra 1/4" for a seam allowance and B) twice as high as you want your fold to be. You will want to cut your fabric to be twice as high as your fold so that you can see the fabric detail on the inside of the boot as well!

Now, fold your decorative fabric in half lengthwise and widthwise and sew it closed to make a tube. If you want to close the bottom up, go ahead, but it is not necessary. I left mine open. 

Next, with your liner turned right side in, slide your inside out "tube" halfway down into it. 

Does that make sense? 

Now you can sew along the top of your fleece to attach your fabric. Then sew it again at the bottom of the decorative fabric to attach it to the wall of your liner so that it doesn't ride up while wearing it. 

You are done! Now splash around and show off your styling wellie's that are one of a kind!

Decorative fabric: $5.00 - taken from a scarf

fleece: $2.80

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total cost: $7.80

*Because inquiring minds want to know: Boots were purchased at a Farmers Feed and Supply store called Cal Ranch. Plaid fabric was a scarf I found at Forever 21 for $5.00.

Loved your visit! Until next time...

Your Ideas, My Projects!

There are a couple things that I am finding to be really great in my life: 1) That I can be gone for over a month, vacationing up a storm and not having to stress about what to create next for this blog...because it really doesn't matter. At all. The stress level is pretty much minimal when you don't "have" to blog, but instead "get" to blog. And 2) That I can always turn to people like you for some inspiration and ingenuity because sometimes, I just need a little shove in the creative department. Who doesn't?  

(Thanks for sticking around and not caring. I mean that in the most sincerest and flattered way possible!) 

That is when Pinterest comes in handy! Kind of. While Pinterest is by far the most inspiring site around, it only takes a few short minutes to be humbled and hit by the mighty realization that you may just not be the coolest crafter/dresser/decorator/chef around like you may have thought! I am always so amazed at how clever people are. Like, "HOLY CRAP" clever and "I WISH I HAD THOUGHT OF THAT" clever! I have found things that blow my mind, people who clearly think on a whole other level than I do, and projects to keep me busy until my hair turns gray. It's quite addicting and oh so thrilling! 

Do you care to join me on Pinterest? You can find me right HERE if you do.

I have been working on 2 projects this past week. One was found on Pinterest, and the other one I showed awhile back on this here very blog awhile back. I don't just show other people's projects for my health, ya know! I actually DO make them! 

The mini side ironing table was the brain child of Elizabeth at Oh Fransson

 and the sewing caddy was the brilliant idea of Joy over at How Joyful. 

Use a TV tray to make a mini ironing board to have next to you while sewing. This concept has changed my life! HINT: These TV trays can be found and are sold individually at Target for less than $10.00!!

Another HINT: If you don't already have a piece of scrap fabric for this project, when you go to buy some, simply buy a quilter's fat quarter. It fits it perfectly and usually costs less than $3! 

The sewing caddy can also be made from 2 fat quarters!

Pretty smart, eh?

 I sure do like all of you creative people! You keep my wheels spinning!

A Positively Splendid Kind of Day!

Guess where I am today? Besides being at Echo Lake here in Utah and waiting for my turn on the boat, I will be at Positively Splendid - the magic of cyber space allows me to be in two places at once! Hallelujah for that! The name of the blog is so very fitting because Positively Splendid is...well, pretty positively splendid! Making an appearance on Amy's (not "me", Amy) blog is pretty thrilling as I have been a fan for quite some time now! Aside from feeling totally cool about being a guest on her blog, I am also pretty excited about the DIY project I am featuring! I will be showing you how to whip up your very own curled paper ceiling pendant! Go check out today's tutorial and then scroll through all her grandiose posts from the past and get ready to be inspired! 

(I wonder if I could get any more exclamation points in this post?!!!??!!!!!!!!)

Free Circus Printable - Done!

A few years ago, I found a free printable for a Victorian carousel and have been smitten by it ever since! It honestly made my heart pitter patter with glee when I saw it! I posted about it here but didn't get much feedback on it. Maybe the photo that the website provided was less than appealing (much less!) or maybe my taste in whimsical decor is not so main stream? (I'm perfectly o.k. with the latter of the two.) Who knows...but I thought I would throw it out there again anyway, just in case you missed it or were turned off and/or misled by the crap photo. 

I finally got around to making one for not only myself but for my good friend Nicole who just had a baby boy! After making it, I fell even more in love with it because the detail and illustrations are too darling for words. What a great present it will be for baby Reyn's nursery and I can't wait to give it to them today! 

You can make one too by clicking on this pdf link and downloading it to your computer! 

http://www.vam.ac.uk/files/file_upload/45900_file.pdf

FYI: It also makes cool shadows on the wall! 

Loved your visit! Until next time...