Shabby Chic Ruffled Diaper Cake

Shabby Chic Ruffled Diaper Cake

Sometimes I dream up something, have these great ideas, but then when I attempt them, well....lets just say they do not quite turn out the way I envisioned. Yet somehow this project turned out exactly how I envisioned it, and I am in love!

Several,years ago I made my first diaper cake, which you can see Here . I was looking at changing the normal diaper cake and make it a little more elegant. This time I had an opportunity to make another one for a family member-in fact I am giving her a baby shower, and I am so excited! I will have to share pictures afterwards. :)

Fun with Frames, and Printing on Fabric

For my daughters birthday I decided to make her something for her, and her husband's home. Been wanting to try my hand at printing on fabric too. I can't wait to see them on her wall! Thought they would look great as a grouping. :)

I bought some cute frames at Hobby Lobby (make sure it's the week they are on sale at 50% off!) that have no backings on them. I bought some scrapbook paper to match her colors, and cut them to fit 2 of the frames. Spray painted an "N" for her last name, then glued it on one of the frames with paper, and then printed on fabric for the other frame. Added some sparkles cause we all need some sparkles in our life! Cut up a cardboard box for the backs to keep them all in place (I was going to staple them in but I ended up taping the backs so she could change them later if she wanted to).

Ok, now my advice to you all on the printing. You must use an inkjet printer. Best fabric to use is Muslin or Linen type. I used Burlap and it worked well but not as well as the other types I tried. Now, I totally am warning you now, do not use Felt!! Umm....let's just say the fuzziness of the fabric drags along and smears all the ink. ;-)

To print, you will need your printer, card stock paper, fabric, and a spray on tacky spray like Rustoleum's tacky glue which worked perfect for this! You can find it in craft stores.

Take your fabric, cut it to fit the card stock, at this point you can cut it a little big if you want some overlap for the spraying purpose. Take it all outside (you want good ventilation for this spray) and some newspaper to put down for the card stock to be sprayed. Spray the card stock well around it's edges and all around. Then take your fabric and drap it over the card stock. Smooth out the fabric, it will be easy to get out any wrinkles at this point, then let dry for 10 mins. Now, cut around the fabric to match up the lines perfectly so the paper runs through the printer without snagging onto something inside and jamming it.

Put it in your printers tray by itself upside down (least this is how my printer pulls and prints onto my paper, if your not sure, mark a paper first and send it thru) then set up your graphic to print (make sure you tell the printer it's card stock going through) then print. Walla!

You can pull the fabric off the card stock right after, as long as you sprayed on the card stock and not the fabric it should be fine. I found though with me wanting to frame this I left it on the paper so it stayed smooth and taut.

This idea works for fabric you want to make pillows with, or quilting blocks. I am told you can wash the fabric afterwards in cold water, air dry. Let me know if you try this, would love to see your project! I have more to come because it's so darn fun and easy!

Have fun creating!
~V

Fall Wreath's

Hello! Well......Goodness it's been so long that I freaked out from this new post layout.. lol!

Ok, so I am such a slacker! Been ubber busy and made every excuse why I was not posting on here, but here I go!

Here is a simple fall wreath for Halloween, I have had the wreath for a lot of years and cannot remember where I bought it, just thought it was so pretty, and fun to add things to it like this Trick or Treat sign and some spiders! After Halloween I will remove those and it's perfect for Fall, or you could add some different ribbon and acorns, or?

This next one I made for my Mom for her birthday. Cool thing about it was how easy it was, and how versatile it is, you could remove the owl and use it all year long. (She loved it btw.) :)

First I wrapped Twine around a foam wreath from the dollar store. This was the daunting part, but worth it in the end.

Then I made several different flowers from felt, super easy-the ones I made the same way I had made the book page wreath flowers which I posted. Hot glued them on, and added some tulle to fill in some gaps, plus it looks cool. Then I wired in the owl, pushed it through the foam. Easy and it turned out pretty cute me thinks?

I should of took pictures of it hanging up, but I gave it to her instead. Maybe next time I'm there I will? :)



Have fun creating!
~V

Fun With Spray Paint!

A before and after of some ceramic decorative pieces I have had for years, used to be into the red, but now I'm a turquoise freak, and thought.."why not?"

Spray Paint: I used to be afraid of it, now I'm covered in it...literally! If you saw my hands you would laugh, and I'd probably be the first suspect in a tagging incident, but I LURVE spray paint!

Found this beauty at the Thrift Store for $15! Bought Rustoleums Hammered Black and went for it.

During the painting process, this one had so many nooks n cranny's I did about 4 coats to cover it.

And after, hung up in my dining room, so excited!

My old porch planter was looking shabby, so I chic'd it, with yes, more turquoise, but it goes great with my grey front door and white house. :)

Before

After

(picture of it on my front porch is later, still working on my paint there. :) )

My other night stand (previous one showed in a post below) is painted and ready for me to faux glaze it and poly it. Found it at a thrift store, it works perfectly with the other nightstand so I am excited to get my bedroom finished so I can show it to all of you.

So, go out and buy some fun items, some spray paint, and have fun!! Or use items you already have and refresh them!

~V

Upcycled plastic yarn tote bag, part 2

The alternate title for this post should be, "How to Crochet Round Stuff." I know there are tons of crochet tutorials online. I don't know if I'm bringing something new, other than my cute, chubby hands. I tried to take some good pictures that really show the process. And it is long. I hope you are patient. But here you go.

You will want to start by making a simple loop. Like a cancer or AIDS awareness ribbon. Except this one is made out of a plastic bag. I hold this with my left hand.

Now, I'm a rightie, I grab my crochet hook with my right hand. This is a 9-millimeter hook, so pretty big. The letter size of it is N. I believe I got it for about $2, something like that.

Use the hook to grab the long tail of your loop and pull it through the loop. (Now I keep wanting to call it a ribbon. No, it's a loop.) It should look about like this:

Then pull it tight, this way, so what you have is basically a slip knot:

Use the hook to grab the long end again, and pull it through the loop that's left on the hook. This is called a chain. If you were reading a crochet pattern, they abbreviate that as "ch" and tell you how many times to do it. But we are not using a pattern here. We're crocheting by heart!

Upcycled plastic yarn bag

All right, tonight we are doing a little upcycling. If your shopping bag holder is overflowing or you haven't been making it in to take the bags back into the recycling bin at the store, or if you're feeling guilty about stuffing them all into the garbage, this is the project for you. It is easy and fun and best of all, absolutely free (well, you might have to spend a dollar or two on a crochet hook).

gobble gobble!

becka and i decided to try our hands at making ribbon turkeys and putting them on hair clippies. what think ye? she made one and i made one. we didn't have brown or yellow, so we substituted black and gold. not to shabby, eh? SO SO FUN!!

Make your own chalk board & book pumpkins

Fun projects, and easier than you think!

Make your own Halloween black flowers

Simple project!

You will need:
Crepe paper
Floral wire
Floral Tape
Double sided tape
Floral Foam
Bowl or pot to put them in

______________________

Halloween Pumpkin Fun

This is the only time I like Mice in my home! lol!

You can do this project on real pumpkins, or artificial ones like I used.

Halloween Wreath

Fun & Easy Halloween Wreath

Wrapping Gifts a Different Way

Why not make the wrapping a box that can be used later on? Add some fun homemade PomPom's! (instructions below)

Make a ring/jewelry glass holder

Silverware Art

This was a fun project. I went to a local thrift store and bought different forks, knives and spoons. I also bought old frames from there too-to make this awesomeness!

Tissue Paper Fun

This was a fun project, but it did take time like my others (can't seem to get past that hmmm...) There are several ways to do this, but I chose the rosette looking flower instead of the fluffy one (I will try that one next)Of course I had to glam it up with feathers and bling for fun, but you could do it anyway you want, or leave it plain.

Great thing is it is cheap!

Paper Craft

Something fun to decorate your walls with, or a party, or? You can use scrapbook paper, or tissue paper, basically any paper. These are simple.

Picture or Recipe Holder

~Make your own unique picture or recipe holder~

ring

i made katy a ring this afternoon - guess what it's made out of? 20 points to whomever guesses right. let me know if you want a tutorial ...

~ jannet

Rick Rack Rosettes

I wish I were clever enough to think of this idea, but I didn't . . . totally cute, though, and something I love! --Susanne

Rick Rack Rosettes
by Nikkala

tote tutorial

yet again, this is a really long post. i can't help it!!

anyhow, start with two coordinating patterned fabrics and two coordinating solid fabrics. you will use one pattern for the outside of the tote and the handles (fabric a). another pattern will be used for the pockets (fabric b). one solid will be used for the lining of the tote (fabric c). the remaining solid will be used for the bottom of the outside fabric (it gives it more stability). you will also need interfacing - it will be used with the lining of the tote and the lining of the bottom fabric.

the measurements you will need for the fabric are:

• fabric a: 1 piece - 14" x 28" (outside fabric) and two pieces - 4" x 14" (handles)
• fabric b: 2 pieces - 5" x 11" (pockets)
• fabric c: 1 piece - 14" x 28" (lining fabric)
• fabric d: 1 piece - 14" x 10" (bottom lining fabric)
• interfacing: 1 piece - 14" x 28" and 1 piece - 14" x 10"

iron all fabrics. iron the small piece of interfacing to fabric d (if there is a wrong side, iron the interfacing to that side).  

this is how the fabric will look when ironing the interfacing onto fabric d.