Paper Flower Roundup As promised, here is a roundup from around the web of some gorgeous paper flowers! All of these would be great for weddings, home decor or a gift for your special someone this Valentine's Day! Above you will see a rose that I made thanks to a great tutorial and template from Ellinee. I tried several roses, I will post more photos of mine at the bottom of this post, and I can say that regular copy paper (or paper of a similar weight) is easiest for these, though you can also make them with card stock and vellum without too much trouble. I really love these as I have seen several tutorials for roses around the web that are either too simple and so don't look very realistic or need you to cut out every single petal individually (and who has the time to do all that?). The rose template even comes in several colors so you could print it out onto white copy paper and get a variety of colors! Of course, no paper flower roundup is going to be complete without mention of my own tutorials!
Do us a Chocolate and Marshmallow Favour! - Beyond Beyond | Beyond Beyond We have seen another variation of this favour before, and we know, we know – the winter nights have yet to draw in; we are technically in sunshine and 99 flake land – but Hot chocolate ritualistically calls us to worship at its warm, comfort-in-a-cup feet. We are going to sound like masochists having just got over one of the worst winters in 30 odd years, but the idea of curling up with a big fat mug of the brown stuff, while enjoying the schadenfreude of bruised backsides and shattered egos – is our kind of heaven (You are more than welcome to copy and paste this line when we are cursing about it being winter!) We seem to have an addiction for filling up glass jars with goodies and junk – so we hope that you enjoy this fantabulous find and idea that we found via Blonde Design – make sure that you get yourself over there as you can download the tags. On top of that, you can see all the other gift ideas that they have – if you need glass jars of course then IKEA is your friend.
Paper Pyramid Gift Boxes Check out my new site, Let's Wrap Stuff. It's dedicated to all things related to gift wrap. You can even submit a tutorial or photo (even if you don't have a blog)! Lately, I've been a little obsessed with making different kinds of gift boxes. So when I came across these pyramid shaped DIY gift boxes, I knew I had to make some. These are so simple to make, because Sassafras has generously provided a free printable template. Print the template onto the inside of an 8.5 by 11 piece of card stock. These little boxes are easy to open and close, and would be perfect for a little Mother's Day gift like earrings or a necklace.
Woven gift-wrap // pastel edition ^_^ By Kate on August 8, 2012 I noticed that the woven gift-topper I made last year was doing the rounds again on Pinterest so I thought I would make an updated pastel version (pastels seem to be the new neon at the moment). I bought some quilling strips (0.5cm) to use this time which reduces the labour by about half (I’ve also been working on some more intricate woven ‘things’ for another project…more to come soon). Anyway check out the previous post if you want full instructions. Above: Mischevious hands – the unseen backdrop in all my photo’s ^_^ While I took photos today my boys were making their own presents by wrapping boxes in newspaper. Finally, the font used on these images is called soymilk and it’s free to download …yay!
Make a No Sew Felt Wine Bag / Wrap {An Inexpensive Hostess Gift} With the holiday season upon us and lots of fabulous parties to attend – here is a simple and quick way to dress up a bottle of wine for the hostess! {Seriously – you can make this in just a few minutes while ironing your party outfit and pick up a bottle of bubbly on your way to the get-together} No-Sew Felt Wine Wrap Materials Needed:FeltStitch WitcheryPinking Shears {or regular scissors}A Bottle of Wine, Champagne, etc. Double over a single cut of felt {so the crease is at the bottom} and cut a piece measuring 6 inches wide by 24 inches tall {you may need to adjust the measurements as wine bottles do vary in size}. I used pinking shears to give the edges a little design. Lay the bottle on top the felt {crease at the bottom} and measure one inch up from the top – lightly mark a guideline. Sit the bottle right side up and place in the center of the felt; the top edge of the bottle resting on the guideline – trace around the bottom of the bottle. The next step is to seam the sides.
Circle Zip Earbud Pouch Tutorial - Dog Under My Desk I use a little zippered pouch to carry around my earbuds since they are the fancy microphone ones and I don’t want them to break or get tangled. Some of you have commented that you are looking for some small, simple gift ideas. This is definitely simple to make, and a little more fun than the typical rectangular zippered pouch! I can see these as the perfect gift for teenage cousins or nieces or girlfriends or even teacher gifts. Fun, quick, and cute! It doesn’t take very much fabric so you could even use scraps! UPDATE: I have completely re-written this tutorial with twice as many bright, clear photos and more detailed instructions and it is available as a pattern in my pattern shop. First, download the pattern template HERE. Cut from main fabric: 1 circle 2 half circles 1 tab Cut from lining fabric: 1 circle 2 half circles Cut from batting (or medium weight interfacing, if you prefer): 1 circle 2 half circles You will also need a 1″ wide nylon 5″ or longer zipper. Time to sew!
Little Wishes - Beyond Beyond | Beyond Beyond Well, we are dusting off our obligatory black armband over in Beyond Beyond land for one of our most favourite shops ever – Early Bright (mega sad face) they have been the purveyors of some delicious and inspirational bling that is more art than jewellery. And we just want to share one of the most beautiful pieces every a wish in a jar. We used to shake dandelion bushes when we were little in the vain belief that we would get a Barbie dream house, Michael Jackson tickets, the ability to breakdance overnight (although we never progressed beyond being able to do backspins), millionaire moolah, or our favourite wish was that we had been dropped off at the wrong house (sorry parental units) and we were really the offspring of some family with the financial clout of Daddy Warbucks and the Rothschild’s combined. About the author I'm the big kahuna with the whole shebang.
Small Gift Bows Here is another great gift bow tutorial! These are a little bit easier to make than my Jumbo Gift Bows due to the smaller, more manageable size. They are also a great option because you can use almost any paper to make them! All of the bows you see here were made from pages out of a magazine. To make the bow seen at the top of the page you will need to start by selecting a full page out of a magazine and cutting it into strips: For this bow I cut my page into 7 strips, all 3/4" wide as seen above. Next, you will make your loops into figure 8 shapes by looping your paper. You will notice that you want to loop it so that the "wrong side" of your paper is facing up on both the center of your bow, as well as the end you looped towards the middle. Secure your bow loops in the center with glue, double sided tape or a staple. Now your bow is ready to assemble! Arrange and assemble your 3 other figure 8 loops in the same way and then glue them together.
Easter garland By Kate on March 26, 2012 This is my first ever Easter craft! A ‘miffy’ inspired rabbit garland. All you have to do it print, cut and attach to cotton. I printed the template onto pastel coloured card (175 gsm). You can download a template here if you want to try! Rolled Flower Gift Toppers Here is a quick and easy way to add a little charm to your gift packages. I know a lot of bloggers have extra book pages from all the fabulous paper projects floating around. Here is a way to use some of those scraps so that nothing goes to waste! You can also make these with scrapbook paper, cardstock, fabric and of course felt as shown above. You want to start with a square shape. Using a pencil or a light colored pen or crayon, you want to draw a spiral circle onto the square. Next you want to cut out all the lines that you have drawn continuing until you come to the center of the spiral leaving a small circle at the end. You’ll be left with a long paper snake! Starting with the outside of the spiral roll the paper inward in somewhat of a cone shape. Keep rolling until you get to the end. I gently rubbed some Tim Holtz Distressed Ink (Antique Linen) on the edges of each flower for a worn look. I followed the same process for the felt. Here is the end with the circle I was talking about.
Soothe Winter Skin with this Homemade Sugar Scrub Winter skin has been an issue for me, for as long as I can remember. All summer long I swim, garden and hike around in the Southern California sun. Occasionally I will leave my skin outdoors for too long, turning it bright pink (never the deep, creamy brown my mom and sister have) but it always bounces right back to my soft, milk-white and freckly skin. In the winter months however, my skin completely dries out on me. Winter is when my skin should love me! This year, I’m fighting back against winter skin with a homemade sugar scrub. This scrub not only feels amazing, it also smells amazing, is so cheap to put together, and it requires only FIVE ingredients. White sugar Whole Vanilla Beans Olive Oil (Or Mineral Oil) Almond Extract (Or Vanilla extract, mint extract, lavender essential oil- Whatever you’ve got handy!) I started this project by putting some white sugar in a jar with two vanilla beans, and leaving it alone for a few days. Next, choose a container for your homemade scrub.
DIY Christmas Gift Wrap Ideas Today’s post is packed with what I call ”use-what-you’ve-got-on-hand” gift wrapping ideas. You can make your own gift wrap with wall art, magazine pages, old maps, clothing patterns, newspaper, parchment paper, fabric, wall paper and other materials. Tie it with pretty ribbon, yarn, string or even Japanese tape (perhaps you hoard it like I do). Add a little embellishment for fun and a gift tag. Easy and unique! Here are some creative ways I’ve dressed up packages using found objects: 1) Craft paper as gift wrap, Japanese tape and baker’s twine for ribbon, paper flower as bow (see paper flower tutorial here) 2) Recycled magazine page pillow box with wool yarn bow (download pillow box template here). 3) Tissue paper for gift wrap (easy for a pet to tear into), photo for gift tag. 4) A paper snowflake embellishes a simple craft box, tied with jute string (this easy How-To is coming from Lia, so stay tuned!) 5) Wall paper sample as gift wrap with peel and stick felt letters for gift tag
cupcake box For english summary, see end of post. Min lille gratulerer-med-ny-logo-og-profil-gimmick til Caroline alias Sukkerfeen ble ikke notatbok for oppskrifter som først tenkt, men derimot en cupcake-formet gaveeske i god gi-det-videre-ånd. Jeg kan godt se for meg at Sukkerfeen kommer svevende med en slik en med noe søtt og deilig oppi. Eller hva sier dere..? ☺ Cupcake-esker av denne typen finnes det mange bilder av på nettet, men det har ikke lykkes meg å finne en mal for gratis nedlasting. Esken rommer akkurat en normal størrelse muffin/cupcake (diameter i bunn er cirka 5,5 cm), men kanskje greit å droppe frosting - eller holde mengden til et minimum. For øvrig kan eskene selvsagt fylles med akkurat det dere måtte ønske å gi bort eller oppbevare. Best av alt: Disse eskene er slett ikke vanskelige å lage! Da sier jeg bare værsågod - det er servert! Print on heavy cardstock (190g - 240g)
DIY string-tie envelopes Hello! Sorry about the little break. My son has been off on his half-term holidays so I had a blog-free week! Now I am back, I just want to give a big shout out (and a big thank you) to my new sponsors, pi’ikea street and paper glitter….do check their sites out! I also wanted to say a massive thanks to all the people who have left comments lately (and to those who have sent me lovely emails). I do confess that I have always had a ‘thing’ about string-tie envelopes. These dinky little envelopes are great for all-sorts of things (storing paper ephemera, housing invitations/gift cards, storing seeds). By the way, now my kids are getting better at using scissors they have been really enjoying making their own envelopes using the template from my previous post. You will find a full tutorial and templates below! You will need: Paper Card String Glue stick Scissors Tiny brads/split pins (the heads of the brads I used were 3mm in diameter) How-to 1. 3. 5. Job done!