2 Dollars + 2 Minutes = 2 Scarves

I can't remember the last time Sharon or I posted a full-on tutorial for a craft.  Have you been missing them, too? 

Today at Hobby Lobby, inspiration struck me when I found a 3/4 yard remnant of grey jersey fabric for $2.69.  Immediately, I thought "scarves!" because I have admittedly been a bit scarf-obsessed lately which is crazy considering it's still very much summer here in Florida. 

3/4 of a yard of jersey knit turned out to be the perfect amount of fabric for two scarves.  The supply list for this project is ridiculously short--jersey knit and scissors.  You can handle that, right?

Just lay your fabric out and cut it in half lengthwise. (I realize my fabric is folded incorrectly for this statement, but I folded it and then cut up the middle so I had less to cut.  Yes, I'm that lazy!)

Stretch your fabric pieces lengthwise and voila, you have scarves!  Knit fabrics are awesome because you can leave raw edges and they don't fray--tugging lengthwise on the fabric creates a nice "finished" look on your unfinished knit.

And because I like to explain things to death:

The fabric on the left is the cut but not-yet-stretched jersey.  The scarf in the center is complete--just the cut piece of jersey knit all stretched lengthwise.  The scarf on the right was just for a point of reference.

Don't forget to take an unflattering picture of your neck.  Then you're officially done.

I have seen SO many jersey scarves out and about lately and I've been tempted to buy them, but I can never bring myself to spend $10-$15 on a piece of long, skinny fabric. Sometimes it pays to be cheap. And as a bonus, when people compliment your scarf you can proudly say "I made it". Throw in a "boo-yah" if you feel like it. I definitely would.

P.S.  I completed this craft while my toddler was awake.  So, yeah, it's really that easy.

DIY Decoupage Napkin Eggs

I know what you're thinking... another decoupage egg tutorial?? And sorry to disappoint, but yes. This concept has already been done numerous times this season, so I'm not sure who to give credit to. Just know that this is not my original idea. If you haven't heard of these yet, great! If you have, I hope you find some of my tips helpful in creating your own way of doing this craft. Enough talk. Let's get down to business.

Supplies:

Pretty napkins
Plastic eggs ($0.35 - half off at Hobby Lobby)
Mod Podge and felt brush
Newspaper
Saran wrap (not pictured)

Once again - the supplies for this project are almost completely free! Booyah! Cause that's how we roll. That was lame. Sorry, continuing on...

What To Do:

First, before you do anything - take your eggs out to a well ventilated area and spray paint them white. This is so you can't see the extreme(ly nauseating) neon colors through the napkin. Like a dummy, I didn't take a picture of this step. Some people choose to glue the two halves of the eggs together, but I didn't feel this step was necessary, and mine turned out fine. If you plan on reusing these for years to come, I would probably glue them.

Next, remove the back layer of your napkin. You only need the thin top layer.

There are two ways of approaching this. You can tear your napkin into pieces...

Or tear long strips. Or both! (Which is what I did.) If you try to put the whole napkin on at once, it won't adhere smoothly. Above are the simple steps to creating long strips.

Mod Podge your pieces or strips onto your eggs, and place them on a piece of saran wrap to dry. Once they have almost nearly dried, apply another layer of mod podge for more of a glossy effect (my mod podge is glossy vs. matte).Warning: This gets extremely messy! If you were one of those kids who put Elmers glue on your hand so you could peel it off once it dried - you're going to love this project!

You can certainly do this with scrapbook paper or even fabric. But to achieve the best results it is better for your material to be as thin as possible. Which is why I chose napkins! Looking back now, I would have chosen a more colorful floral print because I think that would have looked better decoupaged.

What kind of egg projects have you done this year?

Spring Scrapbook Paper Tree

Hello fellow crafters!

Tristin and I were invited to be today's featured guest blogger over at Everyday Mom Ideas! We were thrilled with this wonderful opportunity, and wanted to share with the readers over there one of our trees from the collection we're currently doing.

This second tree is very similar to the first one. I'm sorry! I promise, the next ones will be more diverse. But the materials used in this tree are very different and it is a lot easier to overall construct. So what are you waiting for? Go check it out!

(Since this is a guest post on a different blog, and the concept is similar to the first tree.. I may have repeated myself a little. Do forgive.) Ok, now go check it out!

 

Thanks, Julia, for having us on your blog!

Another Pillow: Ruffles!

What is the deal with our new obsession for pillows? Tristin said it best in her post yesterday, many times we are on the same page with our projects. And I guess pillows are on our mind. So sorry readers, but I have another pillow to share. It's a ruffle pillow. Mmm ruffles.

No, the ruffles are not completely straight... but you know me, I hate rulers. ;) I found this wonderful gray fabric with cute little pink birdies, and I wanted to do something fun with it. Nothing says fun better than ruffles. So I went to work making a pillow with the gray fabric. I cut out a front and a back for my pillow. I made a small, rectangle pillow because I already had a pillow form that was just begging to be used (and by "begging to be used", I mean sitting in my craft supply area for months.)

For the ruffles, I cut 1 1/2" strips of fabric about twice the length that I wanted the actual ruffle to be. To create the ruffle look, sew a simple basting stitch through the middle of each strip (you can also sew the stitch on one of the sides for a different kind of ruffle). The basting stitch resembles the running stitch and is one of the simplest hand stitches to do.

Once the basting stitch is sewn down the length of the entire strip, gently pull the thread at the working end so that the fabric bunches. Do not pull too hard or you will break your thread!

Now sew your newly made ruffles onto your fabric that is going to be the front of your pillow. Next, make your pillow! Place your two pillow fabrics squares (or rectangles) right sides together. Sew three sides leaving the bottom long side open. Sew the ends of that remaining side leaving the center open for stuffing your pillow. Don't forget to back stitch to reinforce the stitch around the opening.  If you have a pillow form or a fuller pillow, you may need to leave a larger opening. Hand stitch the opening closed. My pillow form was so difficult to get in, so I left one of the short sides open and hand stitched it closed after the form was in.

Mistakes/Things I would have done differently:

• I actually got really excited and sewed the whole pillow case together (save the one short end for stuffing the pillow case in) before my ruffles were even on. I still managed to attach my ruffles, but with more difficulty. Scatterbrained? Yeah, maybe a little.
• Looking back I probably should have only used one or two colors. I think three is a bit much. Or maybe the bright cheery colors I used is a little too bright for my taste. But I have gotten a few compliments on it, so I guess some people think it's ok. 

What do you think? This is only my second time doing ruffles, so go easy on me! ;)

Enjoy!

XO,

Crocheted Rose Pillow Tutorial

Sometimes Sharon and I are surprised by how much we're on the same page.  I'm not talking about how we're on the same webpage--that's a given.  But take for instance, this pillow:

Pier 1's Lavender Rose Pillow, $34.95

We each took pictures of it at our Local Pier 1 at separate times, each thinking "I could make that".  A few days ago, Sharon was over at my house (for the purpose of crafting, what else?!) and I showed her my work in progress and she immediately knew which pillow I was knocking-off because she had intended to do the same thing! 

Great minds truly do think alike.  Except for the fact that Sharon really loves that purple color, and I really don't.  I'm just not a purple-lover.  Wanna make something of it?  That's what I thought. 

Back to the pillow--want to make one?  Sure you do.  Here's what you'll need:

crochet hooks that correspond to the size of your yarn

2 balls of yarn (can be the same color)

scrap fabric for making the pillow

poly-fil

a good old-fashioned needle and thread

an embellishment for the center (maybe a pretty brooch or a big button)

Before you start crocheting, you'll want to determine the size of your pillow.  I wanted a small accent pillow, so I traced a 10" dinner plate onto scrap fabric.  In hindsight, I wish I'd used plain fabric, but I was trying to be thrifty and use what I had on hand.   Be sure to cut two matching pieces of fabric--a front and back for your pillow.

Now it's time to get crocheting.  I've been crocheting for about 6 months now, so I'm by no means qualified to make patterns or use the jargon--but here goes anyhow. Please note that I used two different colors of yarn to better show how I went about creating the pattern.  With the base color (white) I made a chain--I probably started with about 20 stitches.  Then I began to make a shell pattern using the yellow yarn, starting at the beginning of the chain.  Here's the shell pattern I used:

1 sc *skip 1 st, 5dc into next st, skip 1st, 1sc into next st; rep from * to end.

Once your shell pattern is approaching the open end of your chain, it's time to chain some more.  Then shell some more.  As I was making my shell strand, I was also tacking it down to my fabric using a needle and thread starting at the outside of the pillow. 

I know it sounds kind of complicated, because you are basically running three processes at once--the chaining, the shelling, and stitching it all down on to the fabric.  It's really not that complicated, though.  The reason I did this little by little is so that I only made enough crocheted shells for the pillow and so I didn't waste my time and resources making a string of shells 20 feet too long.  Make sense?  It worked out pretty well, though I wish I'd sewn the strands of shell closer to each other so that the petals would appear fuller like the original Pier 1 pillow. 

Live and learn, right?  With the lessons I learned, your pillows are bound to be better than mine!

Anyway, follow the same process until you work your way into the middle of the pillow.  Now it's time to add your embellishment.  The Pier 1 pillow has a gorgeous rhinestone cluster in the center--this would be the perfect opportunity to use a brooch from a thrift store or from your own jewelry box.  I chose a big blue button I picked up at Hobby Lobby for $2.50.

Sew or pin your embellishment in place and then finish your pillow as you normally would (taking care not to sew the petals into your seams).

Voila!  A beautiful and unique accent pillow!

Yeah, Sharon and I are both a bit pillow-obsessed lately.  But there are worse things to be obsessed about, right?

P.S. Please send us a link or a picture if you create this pillow or any of our other crafts.  We love to see what you come up with and we'd like to share your successes with our readers!

Fabric Birdie Magnets

One chic new trend I'm falling for quickly (and have been for a while) is the adorable and simplistic bird shape that's been adapted into everything. Pillow appliques, precious baby room decor, wall art... you can seriously do anything with this cutie shape. So, I made magnets.

I used this bird shape as a template. I placed a thin piece of paper right on top of my laptop screen and traced it as is. Trace the wing as well. Don't forget to give yourself a seam allowance.

Then, I just cut out a cardboard template and traced the shapes (both the bird's body and wing) onto different fabrics. This is another great way to use up any scrap fabric you may have in your stash.

Trace and cut out a separate piece of fabric for the backing. Since you rarely see the back of magnets, I used a plain white fabric. Sew the wing on. (I hand stitched everything using a back stitch, but a sewing machine would have been nice..)

Now sew the backing on leaving a hole at the belly for a little bit of poly fill. You could definitely sew these birdies with the right sides together and then turn them inside out. I sewed the seams right on top because I like how it looks. It gives it a playful childhood feel. Or something. Let's not get too technical here - I just think it looks cooler.

Next step: stuff that fabric birdie! And then sew him up. Don't stuff it too full, or your little birdie will lose its shape, and then people will just look at your fridge and wonder why you have a colorful, fat blob as a magnet. Looking back, I probably would have just cut out one or two layers of felt and sewed them in as stuffing. I think that probably would have proved sufficient. But we learn from our mistakes. (And I have a few colorful, fat blob magnets to prove it. Poor birdies.)

Finally, add magnets. I bought two packets of six magnets each (12 total) for around $4.00. It was the only purchase for the whole project. I hot glued one magnet directly to the back of each bird. But after having done so, my husband said "why didn't you just attached them to the fabric inside the birds so you can't see the magnet from the outside?" What a super craft genius. He's going to overtake me someday - you'll see. So, there are two ways of adding a magnet. (You'd better choose my way.) It's really up to you whichever option you choose. (But my way is better.)

And you're done! Enjoy your birdie magnets!!
Yes, maybe I went a little overboard and made too many magnets.
I was powerless over all of the cuteness going on!

XO,

Fun Fabric Bangles

I have recently acquired a humongo (that's short for humongous) bottle of Stiffy's Fabric Stiffener. When I bought it, I had another fantastic project in mind. But with such a big bottle - I've been looking for other fun projects that involve fabric stiffener. A quick and easy craft to start with are these fun, colorful fabric bangles. This is my adaptation of Natasha's fabric bangles.

Supplies Needed:

Fabric (this is a great project to use some of your scrap pieces of fabric on)
Fabric Stiffener (I bought it at Jo-Ann for $1 with a $5 off coupon)
Round object to mold your bangles (I used a candle a little larger than my wrist)
Plastic cup
Scissors

Gather your fun fabric and cut them into strips 1/2 inch wide and long enough to wrap around your round object with a little extra fabric to allow the ends to overlap. It's ok if they're not perfect! (Obviously.)

Make sure you're in a well ventilated area. Pour a small amount of fabric stiffener into the plastic cup. Take one of your strips of fabric and dip it into the stiffener, coating it completely. Press out the excess fabric stiffener with your fingers (time to bring out the inner child in you).

Take the wet (but not soaking) strip of fabric and fold it in half. Wrap it around your round object (mold), overlapping the ends. Repeat these steps with the other strips you've cut out. For the yellow strips, I folded them in half but I also twisted them while wrapping around the candle.

I wrapped the strips straight onto the candle, but if you don't want to ruin your "round object/mold", then wrap it first with plastic wrap.

Patiently wait for the bangles to dry. This was the hardest part. Carefully pull them off of your round object. Aaand you're done! I love them, and I can't wait to don them with a casual fitted tee and chucks kind of outfit. :) What do you think??

XOXO,

DIY Painted Chevron Pillow

Hellooo blogdom! Guess what, guess what, guess what! The 'Crafty Girls' now have a brand new sewing machine! Ok, so it's not brand new. And it's not ours. (Sigh.) A friend from church is letting me borrow it to sew a cover for some rocking chair cushions. And instead of sewing those (scary and complicated) cushions, I've been procrastinating by sewing other (much simpler) pillows. Cut me some slack! I'm a newbie seamstress. I have to work up to them.. or something. When I acquired this beauty of a machine, I immediately knew what my first project was going to be. I have had these pillows planned for a while now, and I was a step away from sewing them by hand. Luckily, I didn't have to.

Here it is. A DIY painted chevron throw pillow. NOT the one on the left. I can only dream that some day I will acquire the skills to pull something that intricate off. But for now, let's get back to reality. I've seen HGTV use this painters tape trick many times to pull off awesome designs on homeowners walls. Unfortunately, we are renting, and I don't want to make the effort to paint and then turn around and just repaint the walls. (Ugh. Renters - feel free to grumble with me for a minute.) The solution.. apply this technique to throw pillows!

 

The chevron design was not my original idea. Apparently, it is a very popular and trendy design. But that is great news for us crafters because it's a simple design that we can accomplish with a little bit of painters tape and some acrylic paint (my new crafty crush). How About Orange did a tutorial for making fabric prints with tape.

Here's What You Need:

• Plain white fabric (I had some of this on hand).
• A pillow form. I actually found it cheaper to buy an actual pillow at Goodwill and use it instead of a pillow form.
• Acrylic paint (or fabric paint) of the color you want to use. I mixed this yellow with a light tan to produce more of a mustard yellow.
• Foam brush
• Painters tape
• Scissors
• Ruler 
• Sewing Machine  

Fortunately, I already had all of the supplies in my stash except for the acrylic paint ($0.59 each at Jo-Ann) and the "pillow form" ($1 at Goodwill), so this project cost me a little over $2.00! Whoo hoo!

  
Here's What You Do:

 

Sew your pillow cover. Usually I prefer to make pillow covers so that you can reuse the pillows inside. Since I used an ugly Goodwill pillow for my form, I opted to simply sew it up. (For my other pillow - later on in the post - I decided to do an envelope pillow cover because I used one of my good pillows as a form.)

Next, use painters tape to create a design on your pillow cover. Here's where a normal person would use a ruler to make precise measurements. Apparently, I'm too good for rulers because I just eyeballed it. Why am I so imprecise with my crafts?

Paint away! I know this looks yuck-o, but don't worry - this isn't the final product! Do careful strokes perpendicular and with (not against) the edges of the painters tape. This is to avoid bleeding under the tape and therefore sloppy lines.Yuck. We don't like sloppy lines.

Here is the finished product! With the inspiration pillow. Tristin found this pillow at Jo-Ann's, and I loved it so much that I bought one too! Yes, I copied her. I'm not ashamed because look how gorgeous and fun it is! I have been wanting to change up the color pallet for our living room since.. pretty much the moment I bought all those blue and brown pillows (silly me). Since then, it's been blue and brown and blue and brown. It has been so monochromatic and just plain... blah. I hate blah.

I loved this painters tape idea so much that I wanted to do a second pillow right away! I wasn't as happy with it as I was with the chevron one, but it'll do. The design was supposed to be more of a border, but I did it too close to the center and the result was a "tic-tac-toe" look. Oh well. At least it's purple. I love purple. It's not a blueish purple like it appears in the picture, it's a warmer purple with more red and yellow hues. Ahh. Warmer, brighter colors make me feel so warm and fuzzy inside. I think we're well on our way to a brighter and more refreshing atmosphere in our living space. :)

Think of all the awesome design ideas you could come up with using simple painters tape! OR use freezer paper or a fun stencil to make a cool pattern or a personalized monogram. What am I? Obsessed with stencils or something? (Yes.)

Happy Painting! :)