autumn leaf bouquet
I don’t know what it’s like in your neighborhood, but when I step outside here in Oakland, I sense it right away: Fall is in the air! I’m lucky enough to have a few turning trees on my street, so I don’t miss out entirely on the brilliant autumn colors I remember from growing up in NH. Speaking of brilliant autumn colors, I’m thrilled to share this stunning maple leaf rose bouquet DIY from a fellow Kate — clay, fiber and paper artist Kate Hust. Kate first learned how to make these a few years ago from a retired art teacher in her community, and now they’ve become an annual tradition when fall rolls around. Her instructor taught her to wrap the leaves really tight, so they looked like rose buds, but Kate has modified the technique a bit to suit her own tastes: She likes to find the really big leaves and make them with large open “petals.” Read the full how-to after the jump! The best part of living in Northern Michigan is the changing seasons. Materials Instructions 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6.
ombre wreaths
Wow. Thank you all so much for your sweet comments on my French Chair Makeover. You guys really are the best part of this blog, and I’m grateful for you all. I came up with the idea for these felt ombre wreaths by combining my love of felt wreaths (see here, and here) with one of my favorite new trends…ombre! To create these felt ombre wreaths, I used wool felt purchased from Etsy, as well as two straw wreaths (12″ and 8″). Questions? Out of curiosity- what color ombre-patterned wreath would you like to see? linking to:home stories A to Ztatertots and jello You Might Also Like:
Weekend DIY: Make Your Christmas Tree
I love the smell of pine on Christmas but ah well, cutting the trees down to have them inside isn't the best we can do for the forest, is it! Unless you use a live Christmas tree, which you can later plant in your garden, or you gather fallen or broken branches thus helping clean the forest, you will not be extremely green. But you can always use your imagination and create unusual, unexpected and over-exciting Christmas tree out of almost anything! You will need some wooden rails and hot glue for this one. Click here to get to the easy tutorial. Who knew that you can make a sweet dimensional Christmas tree out of rolled paper? Don't throw away your wine bottles, you might need them for Christmas! Plywood Christmas tree anyone? This one is so natural and reminds me a mobile. For the passionate reader - a Christmas tree made of books! ‘Christmas tree for purists’ made of numerous oiled wooden beams from northern pine. What Christmas tree will you have this year?
DIY Christmas Decoration Tutorials
Those of you who follow me on Twitter probably know that Jordan has gone home to Virginia for the rest of the week (sadface). I've made a To-Do list of all the things I'd like to get done (and keep busy with). Among updating some blog features and prepping my shop for a Black Friday/Cyber Monday sale, I'm hoping to make some Christmas decorations. I've been browsing the internet for a couple days and there are some great ideas out there that I can't wait to try! I couldn't find the original source for this photo but I imagine it involves hot gluing cinnamon sticks around candle votives. Are you making your own decorations?
tutorial: fabric ornament
I swear I saw this made somewhere online! But I have searched high and low and can’t seem to find a tutorial anywhere. So here is my version [using Heather Bailey fabric], it’s a great way to use up all those fabric scraps. If you use the type of foam ball i used it will give you a more sewn look as the foam will collapse a little on the seams. About the designer: Jody is a mom, crafter, fabric shop owner and blogger. Start with any size foam ball and mark sections with a sharpie. Cut fabric strips about 1/2 inch wider and longer than your foam sections and taper them off at top and bottom. Press fabric into lines with BACK of utility blade [or use a butter knife - if children are helping]. Tie twine or ribbon to a floral pin and press into top of ornament! Tie ribbon to twine to finish off ornament! Tagged as: fabric ornament , tutorial
Japanese Packaging Templates - Best Used With Card Stock or Color Paper
I’m not sure how I discovered this awesome collection of packaging templates but I’m glad I did! Some professor or student at a japanese univeresity was nice enough to share all their packaging templates with the world! These are a few of my favorites and you can see all of them on their website. Every situation is covered! P.S. stumbleupon
Obsessively Crafting: Halloween Door Hanger
***UPDATE SEPTEMBER 2012 I've received so many views and comments about this craft. Thank you for stopping by. If any of you make this or something similar, please send me a picture. This craft was inspired by a Christmas craft we're making in my ward in a few weeks. I got these cork coasters for $1at D.I. Traced and cut. Glued on the green then added some black vinyl for hair. Added the whites of the eyes. Added the black. Cute little eyebrows. I took a pencil and lightly drew a mouth and stitches. Then I went over it with a pen. The rest are similar. The spiders legs are hot glued to the back. I added hot glue to the ribbon and pressed the coasters down one at a time making sure they were center. Make sure to apply Mod Podge to each coaster before hanging it outside. So fun. Happy Halloween!
DIY: Elegant Craft Stick Trees
These are my fave this year Come on over to Momtastic and see how I did it Share with your friends and followers!
