Shabby-Chic Earring Holder & Display Tutorial

I don't know about you, but I have lots of earrings that I never wear because I just don't think of it. If they're not in front of my face, I totally forget they exist. So I wanted to create something to hold my earrings so that I would remember to wear them every now and then.

To stick to the shabby-chic theme, I made a tutorial that is pretty shabby as well... 

...mmk, I didn't mean to it just happened that way.

So I hope you'll be able to follow along if you attempt to make one of these with me. Luckily, it's not supposed to look absolutely perfect it will probably turn out pretty good. Ready?

What you need:



a plain wood frame (mine used to have canvas on it)
a piece of burlap a few inches larger than your frame
quilt batting
fabric
staple gun & lots of staples
glue gun & lots of glue sticks

How to make it:

Cut pieces of quilt batting the length of each side of your frame and three times the width. Fold them in thirds and lay them on top of your frame.

Next cut wider strips (that can wrap around the frame) the length of each side and cut the sides at an angle so they will wrap around without causing extra bulk.

Wrap these pieces around your folded up ones, gluing them on as you go with hot glue. When you're done your frame should look like this: 

Next you need to cut pieces of fabric to wrap around the frame. I just laid the frame on top to get an idea for the size... like I said, it's a shabby tutorial!

You might want to make them a little longer than the pieces of quilt batting so that you can fold, tuck or glue the fabric at the corners to make them look nice. When you cut your pieces they should be this sort of shape:

Wrap the fabric around the batting and staple it in place. I did the inside edge of the frame first.

Then the outside. Make sure your fabric is sitting nicely, then pull it somewhat tight (not too tight - don't rip it!) and staple it down.

Don't be afraid to use a lot of staples! I did the two short sides first, then the long ones. When you're putting on your last two sides, take extra care with the corners so they look nice. I folded the fabric over so there weren't any rough edges and I used glue here and there to keep things in place.

For the last part, I found it easiest to work on my kitchen counter so I could lean the frame against the wall. First line up your burlap so you have lots of overlap on all sides. Then use your staple gun to attach the burlap inside the frame (not on the back). Staple all along on side, trying to keep the staples in a fairly straight line and very close together. Make sure you put a staple right in each corner.

If you started with one long side, like I did, do the other long side next. Pull the burlap fairly tight, but be careful because it rips fairly easily. Staple all along the inside of the frame the same way.

Now stand it on its short side. Pull the burlap fairly tight and staple all along the edge again. Then flip and repeat. In the end the back should look like this:

And the front:

Now all you need to do is trim the excess fabric away. I also glued the rough edges of the burlap down with hot glue to make it a little extra sturdy. Just be careful not to burn your fingers on this step, the glue comes through the burlap!

Now all you need to do is hang your earrings!

Easy Bunting Birthday Card (printable + tutorial)

Ages ago, I saw this tutorial on How About Orange for a cute bunting birthday card. I've made it a few times and it was really cute, but it was easy to do stuff wrong - the flags would sit wrong, or open up and fall off, or whatever. So I decided to make my own fool-proof version. 

If you want to make one too, here's how...

What you need:

printable template (below)
1 piece of card stock (8.5x11inches)
1 piece of paper (8.5x11 inches)
printer
scissors
pencil
washi tape, markers, or pretty paper
glue stick
pen

How to make it:

Open this image in a new tab or window & save it to your computer.

Print it on an 8.5x11 inch piece of paper or card stock.

Fold the left third under. 
(use the ends of the black lines as a guide: they should end at the fold, but not overlap)

Then use the edge of the third you folded under to trim the right third off.

Use markers, washi tape, or little pieces of paper to make the little flags. Triangles are the easiest, but you could do scalloped flags or any other shape!

Open the card flat & use as a guide for the inner sheet. Mark the length of the card on the white paper in pencil.

Then cut the white sheet 1/4 inch inside the pencil line & trim the other edge the same amount. Fold the white sheet in half and you should have a nice card lining.

Glue along one edge & place the paper sheet inside the card with the folds together. Once it is where you want it, press the glued edge down. 

Write something nice inside.

And send it off! Cute, personal & free.

Drying Leaves the Quick Way (a tutorial for people as impatient as me!)

My absolute favourite part of spring is all the new green leaves. While most people start thinking about pressing leaves when they change red, orange & yellow, I want to capture the green of young leaves. The other day I grabbed some and then went online to find the best way to press them so I could glue them into my art journal. The processes I found generally involved leaving them in a book for 24 hours or more and that was just too long for me. When I have a creative idea, I want to do it now or in 6 months, not in 24 hours. So I figured out a way to do it now.

What you need:
fresh leaves
two pieces of newsprint
iron
ironing board


How to do it:

Take your leaves,

 And a couple sheets of newsprint (if you get the newspaper, you can use that).

 Place one sheet of newsprint on your ironing board, then place your leaves on top. It's easier to place them facedown (or curve-down) because they are less likely to wrinkle this way.

 Place the other sheet of newsprint on top.

 Now with your iron on a hot, dry setting (no steam!), iron the paper over the leaves. If you overdo it, the leaves will start to brown, so check them often.

Once they feel completely dry, you are done!

Pirate Pants! (a tutorial)

These pants are one of those things I have been meaning to make for way too long (like most projects I make). When I bought this red and white striped fabric from ikea all I could think of was making funny pirate pants with them! And now that I did, I know it was the right choice. ;)


I decided to make a tutorial for these pants, but I really didn't want to make a whole tutorial about making the pants. To be honest, the internet is already excessively saturated with basic tutorials that are awesome. I'll refer you to made, which is where I got the pattern and instructions for basic pants. I make the flat-front ones, and I've made my own larger pattern pieces based off of Dana's. But like I said, I don't have anything more to say or any better way to say it, so why waste my time? So this is just the tutorial for the zig-zag hem!


What you need:


supplies and instructions from Dana's pants tutorial
a chunk of plain white fabric (12" X 6" or so) **mine is light blue, I didn't have any white!
sewing machine
scissors
pinking shears (optional, but recommended)
a turning tool (or something to push out the corners
iron
ironing board


How to make it:


Start off by cutting your pattern pieces out of the fabric. Instead of making them full length, make them somewhere between that and shorts length. Sew them all up except for the hem.


For the hem, you'll need your white fabric. Cut it into four strips that are as wide as the pant legs (with seam allowance) and about 2 1/2 inches long. Pair them up and sew them on both sides so they are the same size as the bottom of each pant leg.

With the pants turned right side out and the white (or blue-ish in my case) tubes wrong-side out, put the two together (right sides facing each other). You can pin them at the top if you like to be careful about these things.

Carefully sew large zig-zags along the bottom of the pants (through the white layer & the pants), making sure to secure the seam at the beginning and end. I recommend using a fairly short stitch length here.

Even more carefully, use your pinking shears to trim along the seams. You don't want any bulk so get fairly close to your stitches without breaking them. Trim corners nice and close as well.

Now turn the zig-zags out. Use a turning tool or some other blunt, pointy object to push out each point.

Mine are far from perfect, but it doesn't much matter. Pirates aren't the most tailored bunch anyways, right? Use your iron to press the zig-zags nice and flat. You'll probably have some wrinkles, so do your best to let the inside fabric be wrinkly and have the outside flat.

Finally, turn the pants inside out and press the unfinished edge of your white fabric under. Sew along the edge of it to finish your hem and that's that!

If you want your zig-zags to be extra sturdy, I would suggest topstitching along them. Since these pants are just for play, I decided to skip that step!


And now put them on your child who may insist on wearing these pants everywhere. :)

I'm hoping to have a fun pirate shirt or vest (or both!) coming up to complete the outfit soon!

DIY Pencil Cup - Fabric Covered Can Tutorial

I recently got a little photo shelf for above my desk. It has made a world of difference since I have a pretty tiny desk. I wanted some containers to put pens, scissors, etc. in on the shelf, but I didn't really want to spend $8-15 on the ones I like in stores. I had covered a few old tin cans in scrapbook paper for Gavin's art table, which gave me the idea to use fabric to cover some for myself. It's pretty easy and looks a little nicer than just paper, in my opinion. I know you could probably figure it out on your own, but I decided to walk you through it anyways. :)

What you need:


an empty tin can (lid & label removed, washed & dried)
fabric
scissors
iron & ironing board
glue gun


How to make it:


Lay your tin can on fabric and roll it long, starting at the end, to roughly measure the amount of fabric you need to cover the tin can. It should have half to one inch extra on all sides. It doesn't need to be perfectly straight (see mine)!

Fold the edge you want to be on top over about half an inch and iron it flat. Make sure the fold it straight.

Place the fabric around your can, with the fold going over the top edge of the can. Check if your fabric is too long (mine was, between the blue arrows is all overlap, there should only be a little) and if it is too wide (sticking down past the bottom, which it should be). You can mark it or just eyeball it, but take note of the excess fabric.

Now trim off the overlap along the side (the amount between the blue arrows above). There should only be about half an inch overlap. Keep one of these side edges nice and straight because it will show.

Now iron the bottom edge up so that it will sit right at the bottom of the can.

All along the top, where the fabric folds over, cut out little triangles so that the fabric will sit nicely along the curve of the can.

And now get gluing! I couldn't take photos of myself gluing, so I'll have to walk you through this part...

I started by putting the top edge in place and then gluing along the edge of the fabric that will be covered, so it stayed in place. Next I glued along the bottom edge, making sure not to  wrinkle the fabric or pull the top part down. When I had almost glued all the way along the bottom I stopped (with about 1 inch left) and went to the top. You can lift a couple of the little flaps at a time and put some hot glue inside the top edge of the can and then stick the flaps down. Do this all the way around, leaving one or two flaps unattached. Now finish up the bottom and do the vertical edge of the fabric. Try your best not to use too much glue or it will ooze out. Finally, glue the last inner flaps down.

Now fill it up and you're done! The seam where the fabric meets is pretty sloppy on mine, so it faces the wall. As long as it stays put, no one will ever know. :)