When Mardi Gras gives you beads, make a wreath!

Every year my husband and I go to the Universal Orlando Mardi Gras event both for the musical acts and to see the parade. We have been Annual Passholders for years so we usually go several times and it is always a blast! I have seen so many great musical acts, my favorite being Weezer front row and FREE since it is part of admission! They also have a great parade complete with lots and lots of beads. While I loved the excitement of catching necklaces flying through the air I was never sure what to do with them once I got home. After searching Pinterest for ideas I finally found the perfect use for them, a wreath!!

This was very easy to make and costs under $10.
For supplies you will need:
  - foam wreath
  - hot glue gun
  - about 30 strings of beads
  - floral wire cutters
  - 2 masks, these are from the Dollar Tree

  - optional Styrofoam ball cut in half and painted black, black pain and brush

First step is to paint the wreath black. You don't have to do this but I prefer it so the green doesn't show through, also my door is black so the green would have really stood out. Once it's dry, add a dollop of hot glue to the back and attach the end of a bead strand.

Once it is secure, wrap the strand around to the front. Add another dollop of glue to hold the strand in front. Continue wrapping and gluing as you go.

When switching colors, I made a point to stop at the back and cut off any excess beads if necessary. This way the pattern looks smooth and continuous from the front. Once it is all wrapped, I attached the masks. If you have an area that is a bit wonky, don't worry just attach the mask there, no one will see it! My green mask wasn't hitting the wreath enough to get it glued securely so I glued half of a Styrofoam ball behind the forehead area then glued it to the wreath.

All done! Time to hang from the door and enjoy your shiny new wreath. I love how colorful it is! The shiny plastic really pops on our door.

A funny story about the beads. I actually started making this wreath back in January but was two purple strands shy of finishing. Instead of buying some, my husband suggested we just go see the Mardi Gras parade at Universal and most likely catch a couple of purple strands. We ended up with over 100! Here is our haul.

We went on Super Bowl Sunday which happened to be rainy so there was hardly anyone there. We were worried the parade was going to get cancelled because of the weather but it didn't so I was able to get the two purple strands I needed and many more! Many thanks to Universal Orlando for the beads and much applause for continuing with the parade in the rain. We had a blast!

My Favorite and Functional Pattern

I love patterns! To me there is so much potential tucked away inside those paper envelopes or PDF files. That said, I rarely use a pattern multiple times, usually once is enough and I move on to the next. Except for this pattern, Card Wallets by Michelle Patterns. I have used this one so many times, I ended up cutting out plastic pattern pieces for easier tracing. Here is a picture of the trial versions I made from scrap fabric, just to test the pattern and sizes.

There are three sizes included in the pattern, but you can scale it to fit what ever you have in mind. The pattern is very clear and easy to follow.

I actually purchased this pattern because I was looking for a cute birth control case that would fit in my pocket. I hated the plastic sleeve that came with my pills, the edges were so sharp it almost cut a hole in the pocket of my favorite pants. This was the perfect solution! After making a few as gifts I realized how versatile these little pouches are and since Michelle Patterns very generously allows a "Sew it & Sell It" policy along with the purchase I started offering them in my Etsy store. They are perfect for carrying just the essentials when you don't want to carry a purse. I use one as my amusement park wallet, no purse = no bag check line! It easily holds my pills, license and credit card while still fitting in my pocket.  Here are a few more I made.

The owl one I sent to a friend with a bar of French soap inside that I picked up in Paris. The green wallets I gave to my mom and sister with small gifts inside. My mom loves hers for corralling her lipsticks in her purse, she even asked for another one and I think my sister uses hers for business cards. That's why I love this pattern so much, it is a nice bonus gift if you are sending something small and can be used after.

If you are looking for a new and functional sewing project I highly recommend this pattern. Or if you would like one but don't sew check out my Etsy shop I also do custom orders if you are interested in a specific color or print.

*I was not persuaded nor compensated in any way by Michelle Patterns to write this, just a happy customer who wanted to share my experience. 

Organized and Ready for 2018

I'm back! I know you probably thought I would never return but I have and I am hoping to be better organized and have more blog posts in 2018. Perhaps even moving over to YouTube for video tutorials and crafty tips. Needless to say I am very excited about the new year.

While the thought of using YouTube is exciting it made me realize I had some major work to do before anyone sees where I work. It was very disorganized to say the least. Over the last week I have dusted and sorted and labeled and now I am happy to say I'm done!! It doesn't look like the polished and precisely decorated art studios on Pinterest, oh no. Instead it’s a hodgepodge of shelves, tables, and storage containers that are both practical and functional. Here it is:

As you can see I don't have color coordinated specially sized bins perfectly arranged on my shelves. I used what I found around the house and purchased a few inexpensive, clear, Sterilite containers, labeled them with post it notes and fit them as best I could on the shelves.

This is an old movie rack I turned into a much-needed ribbon organizer.

The one downside to my room is that it is upstairs so it tends to be a bit warmer than the rest of the house, hence my "lovely" green black out curtains for those hot sunny days. Maybe someday I will cover them with a prettier fabric, or paint them!

My thrift store sewing table. A fresh coat of paint works wonders, its blue on the outside pink inside.

It doesn't look like the perfectly decorated rooms I see online but it doesn't need to. I feel so much better now that things are tidy. I am officially ready for a productive 2018!

Halloween Costume 2017

It’s October and I am ready for Halloween!! I just finished my costume, Louise Belcher from Bob's Burgers! I decided to post this early in case anyone else was interested in making Louise’s green dress like I did. I started with this pattern, Simplicity 3833 and my green fabric which I have already washed and dried.

Instead of following the pattern and having a separate bodice and skirt piece I just taped the pieces together like this and cut one on the fold.

This gave me one solid front piece to work with which made the dress super easy to make! The only issue I had was the front being maybe an inch shorter than the back piece. I am on the short side so I just trimmed the back to match. For the back I followed the pattern, except I omitted the waist darts and used an invisible zipper instead of a regular zipper. Here it is all finished.

 I am ready for tricks and treats!

As for supplies the pattern was purchased at Joann Fabrics during one of their $1 Simplicity pattern sales. Fabric is from Walmart, Waverly 100% cotton in Grass and a bargain at $2.97 per yard! I love this fabric! It is soft and comfortable but also thick enough to offer good coverage without needing to be lined. If you try this pattern I would love to know how it turned out for you. Or if you have any questions along the way don't hesitate to ask. I am happy to help if I can.

Skelly Flamingo Halloween Bag

I just made the perfect Florida Halloween bag!

The other day I was thinking about outdoor Halloween decorations and it hit me since we are in Florida we needed some skeleton flamingos! Unfortunately, I am not the first person to reach this conclusion. However, the upside is I found this great tutorial by Eighteen25 for making a skeleton flamingo tote bag! The image is included, so if you have a Cricut machine like I do, it is literally a 5-minute project. I won’t get into the details because the tutorial speaks for itself but I will say I love this project and can’t wait to use my new bag! If you decide to make this project I purchased my tote bag at Joann’s and my iron vinyl on eBay from gsmflorida1970 their vinyl and prices are both great. While it’s not the lawn decor I was originally planning on making, it was still too cute to pass up. I'll just have to add those to my Halloween to do list.

Quick and Easy Halloween Pennant Banner

I LOVE Halloween! I love it so much that I usually put up my indoor Halloween decorations in August. I figure I spend so much time making and getting them out for display I might as well enjoy them for a while! Here is my first Halloween project of the season, a quick, inexpensive yet very festive Halloween pennant banner.

One of my favorite places for inexpensive holiday decorations is the Dollar Tree and this year it hasn’t disappointed! I found several items including a wood yard sign, a tinsel spider web and these felt stickers.

To make this banner you will need:

Felt stickers

Felt sheets in black, purple, yellow, green and orange

Ribbon

Black embroidery thread and needle

Scissors

Pen

Optional-hole punch

I started by making a paper template of my flag and them making one a bit larger for the black background. Cut smaller flags from purple, yellow, green and orange felt and larger flags from the black felt.

Then stitch colored flags to the center of a black flag and attach a sticker to the center. I used a small hole punch to make a hole in the corner of my flags but you could also make a small snip with your scissors. Run the ribbon through and done!

Cute and simple felt Halloween banner for under $5. 

Thanks for checking out my banner and be sure to check back for more Halloween themed crafts.

Oh Mr. Rabbit...

I have been in a bit of a felt frenzy lately and I love it! Today, I wanted to share my latest art piece which is a tribute to the amazing Mary Blair. Here is my version of her White Rabbit from the book Walt Disney's Alice in Wonderland. It is such a beautifully illustrated book I highly recommend it for children or Disney fans such as myself.

This is a 5"x 7" Knoppang IKEA frame with a matted area of 4"x 6".  The image is made entirely of felt (no glue) and hand stitched with DMC embroidery floss. It was all hand cut and sewn by myself.  I took several in process pictures so as you scroll down you can see it all take shape. The first picture of the tiny black felt piece in my hand is to give you an idea of the size of some of the pieces I was working with.  I believe that was the nose, before I trimmed it!

 

Thank you for looking at my latest felt art! If you have any questions or comments please feel free to leave them or contact me on Instagram or Twitter.

Winnie the Pooh Felt Art

Lots of projects going on lately, but I am particularly excited about having finished this little guy; the always adorable Winnie the Pooh!

This is another one of my felt art pieces measuring 9.5x7.5 inches. It is made entirely of felt and embroidery thread, no glue is used at all and I stitch and cut everything by hand. We are big Disney fans, as in we go there about once a week, and one of my favorite attractions is The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh. (That ride along with The Haunted Mansion made me decide to pursue a degree in scenic design and become the artist that I am today) If you have rode the ride it as many times as I have, you may have noticed as you go into Owl’s house there are pictures all around. Off the lower right is the cutest picture of Winnie the Pooh and that is what I wanted to recreate in felt.

I love that picture! My awesome husband was quick with the camera and able to snag a picture of it so I could show you just how cute it is. Originally, I was going to just paint said picture but then I stumbled upon an oval frame in a thrift store. While it’s not the prettiest frame it had a certain charm to it and I knew right away what I would use it for. Here are a few in-process pictures so you can see how it took shape.

 I also remembered to photograph the back before I framed it. I usually get so wrapped up in finishing it I forget but the back really shows how much work went into a piece. 

I have been asked if my felt art is for sale, unfortunately if an image is copyrighted/trademarked it is illegal to sell fan art based on it with out permission. Someday I hope to be part of Disney's fine art program so that I can share my love of felt art. Thanks for checking out my art work and remember if you are at the Magic Kingdom check out the Winnie the Pooh ride, fun for all ages with or without kids!

How to Clean a Self Healing Cutting Mat

Today I wanted to share a great tip I found on the Olfa cutting site on keeping your self healing cutting mat clean and in good working order. 

When you cut lots of fabric or particularly fuzzy materials you may start to notice a fuzzy residue left behind on your mat. These fibers can get in the mat and affect your quality of cutting. To clean it use an art gum eraser to remove the fibers. The erasers can be found at craft or art supply stores and they really work! Here is a before picture of my cutting mat the white lines are embedded fibers. I even tried scrubbing it with a microfiber cloth first before using the gum eraser.

As you can see I've been using my mat quite a while. When I'm not cutting I sometimes use it on my desk to just protect my work surface hence the dab of red paint on it! Here is the eraser and the same area after I went over it.

Success! The eraser feels a bit tacky but it doesn’t leave behind any residue or eraser bits like a pencil eraser. If you look closely in the picture you can see where the bits actually stick to the eraser. Just wipe it off and continue working until you have gone over the whole mat. I will say my hand was a bit cramped by the time I was done but it was so worth it. I've had this mat about eight years and I thought I was finally going to have to replace it but after scrubbing it with the eraser I'm getting nice clean cuts again. No more taking two and three passes with my rotary cutter!

A big Thank you to Olfa for the tips and I hope you enjoyed my before and after pictures to show it really does work! 

Easy Pillow Cover

I am back as promised with my easy to make pillow cover. Here it is all finished and I promise it's easy to do!

I started with a pillow I found on clearance at Tuesday Morning. It was a great price because the fabric was picked, which was fine by me since I just wanted the pillow form and zipper.

Since my pillow has a cover already, I am using it as my pattern and also removing and reusing the zipper. First, remove the pillow form then using your seam ripper remove the zipper. Now measure the old cover to determine what size fabric pieces you need. Mine measures 17”, so I trimmed my skunk embroidery to size and cut my back piece of fabric. I like to taper the edges of my pillows in a bit so the corners don’t get super pointy. On the open edges, I mark in ½” on the corner then taper it to the edge (about four inches). I marked that line then did the other side, then cut along those lines. I do this to all four corners.

Now iron the zipper. Mine was kind of coiled back, so I carefully ironed getting close to the teeth. If it’s not flat the needled can’t get close enough when you sew and the zipper will show. See how it uncurled as I pressed it.

I then eyeballed laying the zipper in the center of my fabric. Once placed I measured in 2½ inches from the edge and marked this on both the fabric and zipper for front and back pieces. 

To make sewing this zipper extra easy (no pins!) I am going to glue it. I read this tip on Pinterest and I am happy to say it works and it works well! I used a purple glue stick to attach the zipper. Just dab the glue along the edge of the fabric and press the zipper to it lining up the marks. Once adhered I used my iron to really set it. Then I did the same to the other side.

Now it’s time to sew. With the zipper, open and using an invisible zipper foot I stitched as close to the zipper pull as I could get then I did the other side.

 

 

Now to finish up the zipper side, mark where the stitching line would continue to the edge. Sew from the edge to about ½” past where your zipper stitches ended. Do the same for the other end. Notice the overlap.

Now open zipper about half way and lay fabric right sides together and stitch the other three sides. For the corners, some people clip and then poke them out I however don’t like this. I have accidentally poked through the fabric this way so instead I fold along one seam then the other making a corner and then flip. 

Crisp corners without worrying about holes!

Now turn and insert the pillow form and zip closed, done! Just look at that invisible zipper! It doesn’t matter what color the zipper is if sewn properly it won’t be seen. Only the pull tab is visible. Also, you can always paint the pull tab with nail polish if you do want a specific color. Isn’t this animal print so cute! I bought it at Joann’s a while back, I think it turned out perfect for my pillow. 

Hope you enjoy my easy pillow cover tutorial! As always comments and questions are always welcome! Check out my previous posting for information on the skunk embroidery by Alyssa Thomas at Penguin and Fish.