Mod Podge Crazy

So I have always loved Mod Podging things.  If you don't know what that is, you have been missing out! It's a glue, sealer and protectant all in one and comes in all types such as glossy, glittery, matte, for fabric, and more! I just love to use it on different projects. 

With Mod Podge, you can pretty much add any paper or fabric to any surface.  Here's an awesome blog I found that shows you how to Mod Podge anything:  http://www.modpodgerocksblog.com/

This blog gave me inspiration to go out and Mod Podge some cute frames I found at Michaels for $1.00.
This video is very helpful in doing frames. It's super easy and you can customize it how you like it.

Vintage Love

So I showed you guys in my last post an example of a banner I was going to make, but just a different version.
I used cream felt for the squares and appliqued birds and hearts I cut out from vintage fabric. Then I added some flare by adding a button to the hearts and a hemp bow to the birds.  I think it gave it a nice touch. I sewed the back of the felt to make a little loop at the top for string to go through.  I used a hemp string to string and to attach all the pieces together. It was super easy! Anyone can make it.

Here's my cute little creation:

Today I also did a little distressing on a wooden piece I found around the house.  What do you think??

I used a few different techniques I had gathered from some tutorials I found.  For this piece I first cleaned off the wood with some pledge and wiped away any dirt or dust that was on there.  Then I painted it with some white craft paint from Hobby Lobby.  I let the paint dry for about 4 minutes and then I took some masking tape and placed it over the paint and then began to rip it off.  This process I liked because it ripped off part of the paint and it left an uneven natural look to it.  After doing this all over, I took some sandpaper and rubbed the edges and parts I chose down to make it have a worn look to it.  I do like it but don't love it so I think I'm going to try some different techniques to add to it to make it a little more distressed looking.  Let me know your thoughts!

Distressing

I absolutely am in love with distressed pieces of furniture and frames! My husband thinks it looks old and beat up but I disagree.  I think it's look vintage and like it has a great history behind it.   I have been looking into distressing things myself because it's just much cheaper to find old pieces of furniture and do it yourself.  Although I would like to buy everything I see at Pier 1 and Pottery Barn my pocket book just won't allow. 


I tried looking up some sites to find some good tutorials on how to distress furniture or frames and just did not find a whole lot.
Tommorow I plan on distressing something that is made of wood around my house just to practice.  I'll post some pics up after I work my magic.


If anyone knows or finds any good techniques or tutorials on distressing furniture or frames send them on over. It would be much appreciated!

Here's what I hope to achieve one day in the near future {this is from a blog I found with awesomse distressed pieces}:

http://chicandcrafty.blogspot.com/2011/02/crafty-mood.html

Let me know if you have any tips or  tutorials that can help a sister out! Thanks!

Crafty Mood

I have been in the most craftiest mood lately! I think this pregnancy has got me on a mission and now I have a purpose to create cute little things for my babies room.  The theme for the babies nursery is nature and birds.I'm all about the trees, birds and nature.  I just love it.  It's got a cozy and natural feel to it so most of the things in the babies room will be handmade in some way or another.It will have a sort of vintage feel to it.  If I don't make things to go in the room, I will go etsy crazy and buy way too much! I have already bought 2 things for the room and I will have to contain myself to buy more.
Here is a shelving tree wall decal set I bought from there :

http://www.etsy.com/listing/62760592/new-shelving-tree-with-birds-large-kids?ref=pr_shop

I love that it has shelves too, makes it much more practical.

Here is the birdhouse I couldn't resist:

http://www.etsy.com/listing/68106372/shabby-chic-beach-cottage-pedestal?ref=pr_shop

Most things on Etsy that I want for the room, I will try and make them myself.  Join me on my journey of creativity to make these things!

Here is one thing I have already made for the wall (if it's a girl because it does lean a little towards the girl side, rather than boy):

My next project I will be working on is a wall banner with vintage decorative fabrics. I found the idea somewhere a while ago and cannot find it again so this was the closest I could find.  It's not exactly how I will do it but it's a basic idea of how it will be as far as shape and the way it hangs ( it's the 4th picture down):

http://www.kellehampton.com/2010/11/craftastic.html {By the way, this is one of my favorite blogs to read, she's an amazing photographer and writer}

You get the idea, but stay tuned to find out how my version looks!

Decorative Wall Hanger

I came up with this idea the other day, when I was digging through my left over fabric and random pieces of felt I had.  I love birds and trees and all things naturey (not sure if this is a word).  I love the look of things handmade and put together.  I came up with this decorative wall hanger with birds and flowers on it.  I plan on hanging it up in our baby's nursery, if it is a girl. If it is a boy, then I can always find a cute spot to hang it elsewhere in our house.

This was so super easy to make and you can use any leftover fabric you have and create a masterpiece on your canvas of whatever you like! (I say canvas but this is really the fabric that you use to place all the other fabric pieces on)

For my canvas, I am going to use a 2 pieces of brown felt. One part for the front and one part for the back. Later I will put stuffing in between to make it pillow-like after everything else is sewed on.

Here is a bird pattern to use if you would like. This is what I used to get the middle part of my wall hanger.

The materials I used :
:: 2 pieces of brown felt, one used for front and one used for back of wall hanger. {You can get 4 pieces of felt for $1.00 at Hobby Lobby.}
:: Scrap fabric pieces
:: 1 off white piece of felt cut out in same shape but larger than your fabric pieces. {I put behind the pieces to make it pop out more and give it  more 3-D look.
:: 2 hemp strings
:: a medium size stick
:: some ribbon I found at Hobby Lobby
:: some buttons I made out of ribbon


I first sewed on the ribbon to the bottom of the brown felt.  I then cut out my bird from fabric and then cut out a slightly larger bird from the off white felt.  I did this with my other fabric designs as well. Then I pinned down the bird where I wanted it and sewed it down onto the brown felt.

Then I did the same thing with the other pieces. 
After I sewed everything on the front, I add the brown felt piece to the back and in between the back and front I added the help string on each side. From there I sewed all the way around the sides, leaving one side oped to stuff.

After sewing the sides I stuffed the inside with pillow stuffing and sewed that side up. Then I hot glued the ribbon flowers I made onto it.

Lastly, I found a medium stick and ties the strings onto it to make a cutesy wall decor!
Hope you will make one, they are really easy and so fun to do!

Easy Ribbon Flower

Today I'm going to be showing you guys how to make a rose out of ribbon. It is super easy and so cute after you are finished. This is what the finished product will look like:

I like to make these little guys to put on headbands, clothes, and to add as embellishments to things I'm sewing.

So first off you are going to need these items to get started:

::: A needle and thread, make sure the thread is fairly long (better too long than too short).

::: A ribbon about 7/8" thick, you can also do a little bit smaller or little bit larger, depending on how large     you want your flower to be. The ribbon I am using is about 35" long

::: A button, can be small or medium and large if you do a large flower.
::: Tacky glue or hot glue gun (hot glue gun seems to work a little better but tacky glue can be used).

The first thing you are going to do is take your ribbon and fold it over so the 2 sides meet and then make sure one side is shorter than the other like this:

Next, your going to fold the short side over the long side to make a 90 degree angle or L shape like this:

 The short side of the ribbon is the one folded over the top. Now you are going to take the long side of the ribbon and fold it to the left, on top of the short ribbon. Then take the short side and fold up over the long side like this:

 Side view:

Keep doing this until you run out of short ribbon. Hold the bottom part very securely. While holding on to bottom, pull the long ribbon and the ribbon should scrunch up like this:

Turn the ribbon over and Voila, you have a flower:

From here you can choose to leave it without a button on it, just make sure you hot glue or tacky glue the back so it doesn't come undone. 

I am going to add a button for this tutorial so what you need now is a needle and thread and a button:

Make sure you have the 2 ends of the ribbons together on the back so you can thread the needle through both of them to hold the flower together.

Then you are going to put the button on top of the flower and starting from the back of the flower, you are going to thread up through the flower and into one hole of the button and then back down the other hole.
Keep doing this about 4-5 times or until button is tightly on the flower.

On the back of flower make a few knots with needle and thread to secure the thread so it wont come undone.

And here is the final product!

I took this flower and added it to an old headband I had:

I made another flower and added it to the headband along with this one. Here is my new and improved headband:

Thanks for visiting my blog! Stay tuned for another awesome craft!