To add a pompom or not to, that is the question.

I've been crocheting like a madwoman and I am loving every stolen minute of it--but I'm at a standstill in one of my projects and I need your help. 

You see, I made this awesome hat:

My little Westie is such a helper!

It looks pretty rad, like something a cool skater boy would wear.  (Umm, did I just say rad?  I think I'm too old for that word.)

But, being a crafty girl, I felt it needed something.  So, how about this pompom?  I mean, I can't very well embellish a little boy's cap with a flower, can I?  A pompom seemed like just the right add-on, but I'm not convinced it's necessary.

I made the mistake of asking my husband his opinion, and his answer was pretty classic. 

"Guys don't have opinions on stuff like that." 

Well, some help he was.  I may or may not have rolled my eyes and let out a big ol' sigh.  Sheesh.  But I know you gals can help me out!  Pompom, or plain? 

I made the beanie for Junebug's cousin (who is 17 months old) using a wonderful tutorial from Girl in Air--it's her Happy Halloween Hat.  It's definitely Halloween-y, but obviously with a color change, the possibilities are endless.

To make the hat a bit more manly, I opted out of the scalloped edge at the bottom of the hat and used a  plain double crochet border. 

So, would you add the pompom or leave it plain?

Please leave your opinion--it's most appreciated.  I'll let you know which way I go based on your help!

Easy Custom Embroidered Ornament

Do you like my super creative, non-descript title?




Christmas is the time for giving. (Yes, I know – soo cliche, but there are only so many ways to say it!) Tristin has already shared with us her idea for a yummy gift for friends as well as other precious gift ideas like her cameo bag. I guess it’s time to share some gift ideas that I have.

I made these custom embroidered ornaments for my friends with their last name initial in the center. They aren’t at all what they sound like, but it is incredibly difficult to describe these ornaments, and even worse to come up with a name for them. But that’s probably because they’re not a real thing yet. When they catch on, we’ll have a name for them. ;) There’s really no method to these ornaments… it’s just whatever you want it to be. You can put anything on these bad boys – beads, feathers, glitter, rocks… whatever you can think of. I hope you’re super duper inspired right now.



I started mine off with a scrapbook paper “flower” background. (Oh, did you know that I’m obsessed with scrapbook paper? Cause I am.) I got the inspiration from Amy Heller's Flower Embellishments from Scraps. The only variations I had were making the cardboard circle using a high-tech tea candle and hot gluing the strips of scrapbook paper right onto the circle.



Next, I cut a flower out of felt and added a fun edge with embroidery floss. Now is where I admit that I have tons and tons of embroidery floss, but no embroidery experience. While I was searching online how to do thick embroidery, I came across a technique called “chain stitching”. I’m sure all my crocheters recognize that term. No, it doesn’t mean the same thing in the embroidery world. And no, I didn’t attempt to learn how to do it. Instead, I chain stitched (the crochet way) two threads of embroidery floss together to create a nice thick chain. I then shaped this into whatever letter I wanted and attached it onto my felt flower with embroidery floss. Maybe someday I’ll learn how to embroider properly… but for now, the “Sharon stitch” will have to do.



Thoughts? Comments? Embroidery tips for me? All are greatly appreciated!

A Cameo on Canvas

Hey crafty folks!  I have to admit that amidst all of my busy-ness creating Christmas gifts, I selfishly made myself a little sentimental token.  

Here it is:

I love cameos so having one of my little Junebug to tote around proudly is pretty precious (oh, and that alliteration was completely unintentional).

It's a pretty simple project.  If you'd like to replicate it you can check out Prudent Baby's great tips on making cameos (3 methods) and visit my new favorite freezer paper stenciling tutorial.  Combine those two simple projects into one and you end up with a beautiful cameo on a canvas bag. 

I think this is a gift that proud grandparents would like, too, if you're still looking for last minute gift ideas!

Scrapbook Paper Christmas Trees

I’m not a big fan of red and green. Like the red red and the kelly green. Blech. (No offense to you red + green lovers. I can have my opinions. Don’t hate!) I prefer Christmas decor that steps out of the red and green box and shoots for something unconventional. That’s why, when Tristin shared with me the link to these unusually colorful Christmas trees – I knew I had to make them! They are Lolly Chessie’s crate paper Christmas trees. I didn’t stray much from Lolly’s end result, but my methods in getting there were a little different.


Gather your materials:

• Two Styrofoam cone forms of different heights. Mine were 12 and 16 inches tall. These can be found at Hobby Lobby, Michaels, Jo-Ann, or any other craft store. The dollar tree even has some of the smaller-sized ones.
• Scrapbook paper – also found at Hobby Lobby (but available at most craft stores). I bought six 12 x 12 sheets of various patterns, but I didn’t use all of it – I had at least 1/3 of each sheet left. You could probably get away with using 5 sheets.
• Scissors
• A little scrap of cardboard, poster board, or cardstock – anything that’s thick and sturdy enough to use as a template to cut out your “petals”. I used a piece of a manila folder.
• Hot glue gun + glue sticks




Excuse the mess - there were multiple projects in progress. I mostly included this to show you the Styrofoam cone forms.



Start by tracing and cutting out your template petal on your scrap of cardboard. This is the petal shape I used. The scalloped edge gives the tree a softer look. Use this template to trace petals on the scrapbook paper in rows. Cut the petals out. This is the part that takes so long you feel like taking scrapbook paper behind the middle school and punching it in the face. Yes people, sorry to be discouraging, but this part takes forever. Don’t worry, the end result is definitely worth it!



For a break in between the monotonous cutting, you can start to apply the petals to your cone form. In order to get petals to flip out, curl them on a pen or pencil with the wrong side facing out. Apply a dot of hot glue to the not scalloped side and stick your first petal on.

Start from the base of your cone and work your way up in overlapping rows. When you get to the top, use either some green scrapbook paper or green felt to make a nice pointy tip.



All done! If you don’t like the colorful look of my trees, try this project in winter-y blues, silvers, and whites or different shades of traditional reds and greens. Either way – try it!

Loopy Ribbon Christmas Tree

Have you noticed all of the variations of cone-shaped Christmas trees all over the home decor and craft stores and throughout the blogosphere?  Well, surprise, surprise, Sharon and I have our versions, too!  She'll be sharing a handsome tree soon--so be on the lookout--but for now, let me enchant you with this lovely Loopy Ribbon Christmas Tree.

I chose to use the same loopy-technique that Sharon introduced on the Patterned Paper Wreath with a new medium--grosgrain ribbon! 

Here's what you'll need:
1 8" styrofoam cone (found at the Dollar Tree for you guessed it, $1!)
About 6 yards of 1" wide ribbon, cut into 3.5" lengths
Some hot glue sticks
Some kind of fun topper (the possibilities are endless!)

To make this cheerful tree, simply fold your cut ribbon pieces in half and secure with hot glue.  Layer those little loops on the cone with small dots of hot glue, working from the bottom to the top and overlapping slightly.  Sorry I didn't include photos of the process, but I have confidence that our readers are smart cookies who can tell how this is done from the pictures of the finished product!  (Well, that, and I forgot to photograph the process... so sue me!)

I topped my tree with a standard Christmas tree bow 'cause it's what I had.  Altogether, the cost of this satisfying craft was $2.50.  Not bad, huh?

Display your tree proudly for all to see!

Poinsettia Pillow Tutorial

I LOVE Christmas.  The music, the tree, the ornaments, the music, the food, the cookies, the music...  Seriously, the music was worth mentioning three times.  I love it.  I am also excited for Christmas this year so I can finally display the Poinsettia Pillow I created for... $3.  Yep. 

The inspiration came from a Pottery Barn pillow in the most recent catalogue.  The PB pillow is $29, which in my opinion is expensive for something that can only be displayed for one month of the year. 

Here's Pottery Barn's Poinsettia Pillow:

Want to make your own Poinsettia Pillow that blows Pottery Barn's away?  Here's how:

First of all, you'll need :

1/2 yard of ivory felt  (from this cut 2 16"x16" squares)

1/2 yard of ruby felt 

coordinating embroidery thread

5/8" hem tape (aka fabric tape, fabric fuse tape, etc.)

20 6mm bells

sewing machine (for sewing pillow)

pillow form or poly-fil

printable pattern

And before we get started, here are a few things I'd like to share.  First of all, I did not include my pillow form in the cost of the project because it can be reused year round with other pillow covers. It's a multi-tasker.  Second of all, I bought all items on sale at my fabric store or with coupons.  Stores like Jo-Ann offer 40% coupons frequently and even allow you to use competitor's coupons in the same transaction.  Lastly, the amount of fabric will be enough to complete two pillows, but in order to have enough height to cut the 16x16 pieces needed for the pillow "background" you have to buy at least 1/2 yard.  Got it?  Good.

You'll need 10 small petals, 10 medium petals and 5 large petals. 

Get a feel for how you want it to look--and appreciate how quickly the project is coming together!

Use Elmer's glue to adhere two small leaves to each other for some thickess.  Do this with all of the small leaves so that the 10 you cut out turn into 5 thicker leaves.  Do the same with the medium sized leaves.

Once the glued felt leaves are dry, use your embroidery floss to backstitch up the center of the petal for visual interest.  I think you'll agree that this is a worthwhile step.  It doesn't have to be perfectly straight--in fact it looks very charming with a little bit of veering off here and there.

Cut a 2" circle from your ruby felt and use a running stitch to affix it to the center of one of your 16x16 squares. 

Lay out the first round of petals and adjust them to your liking. 

When you're happy with the placement of your first later of petals, fuse the sides of the petals down with your hem tape.  Leave the center of the petal free of hem tape to make embroidery easier.  (It is next to impossible to stitch through the hem tape adhesive--I would avoid it at all cost!)

Now that you have fused the leaves to the ivory felt pillow front, use the same backstitch method that you used on the small and medium-sized petals to affix the petals to the pillow.

Next, use hem tape to affix second round of petals. Use a running stitch in the center to further affix the petals to the pillow front.  Repeat step for the small petals, too.  Then stitch bells into the center.

Sew pillow as you would any other pillow.  (If you're new to pillow-making, check out HGTV's Pillow Making 101.)

Wasn't too hard, was it?  Please let me know what you think!  As always, your constructive comments and questions are sincerely appreciated.

Fabric Flower Linky Love

Welcome to our first “Linky Love” post! Tristin and I gather most of our inspiration from reading other people’s blogs. So we want to regularly share with you some of our favorite links that we have found inspirational. Let’s get this party started with DIY fabric Flowers.

Fabric flowers are everywhere. I’m almost hesitant to write about them because I feel like they’re a trend that has been done over and over again. But one day I was searching online for fabric flower ideas for an upcoming project, and I was inspired by the different assortment of DIY flowers that were available. I thought it would be helpful for me to share some of the different ways to make your own fabric flowers and also some of the creative ways to use them.



These are my favorite DIY flowers. They are so spunky and colorful. You can use up all of your scrap fabric and materials to make a statement piece for your handbag or clothing. You can find the tutorial on Heather’s blog: Hello, my name is Heather.



These trendy roll-up fabric flowers made by Danielle from My Sparkle are so cute and unbelievably easy to make! I think they would look absolutely darling on a headband or some other accessory.



Check out Maize Hutton's incredibly adorable frayed fabric flower. I love the rustic and simplistic feel of it. I wish I had a baby to put this on. (Don’t tell my husband I said that.)



Dawn from Crochet & sweet, simple things has a different take on the fabric flower. I love all of the bright petals! I especially love the back set of petals. They give the flower so much texture and dimension.




Here are just a few more creative ways that DIY flowers are used.
I know you think I’ve gone flower crazy, but I just can’t help myself!




Here’s a zipper rosette tutorial from Ucreate.
I’ve seen these all over the place – they are very trendy and would look great with just about any outfit. (And how adorable is her little girl??)



Make super tiny flowers and attach them to bobby pins for a fabulous new hair pin. Visit Freckled Nest for the full tutorial.



And finally, the breathtakingly sophisticated rosewood wreath made from old book pages. I’ve seen these in stores everywhere with quite a hefty price tag. This one, made by Under the Table and Dreaming , only cost her $1 to make!


I hope we’ve inspired you in some way,
and I hope you can’t wait to make one of these yourself!
Tell us how you would use fabric flowers!