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Friday, May 25, 2012

Forget Birthdays No More

It has been forever since I last posted, ok, maybe only a few weeks, but it seems like forever.  My internet has been working on and off, mostly off, which is soooo frustrating.  And of course it is kind of hard to blog with no internet access!  Then last week my husband ruptured his Achilles Tendon in his right foot, so he has a cast and is non-weight bearing for at least 6-8 weeks, so I am now his designated chauffer.  Then a couple days ago, my son fell at school and now has a cast on his arm!  So to sum things up, my husband and son each have a cast! 

Anyway, enough about my craziness here, it’s time to show you this awesome Mother’s Day gift I made my mom!

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This was such a fun easy project to make.

I only needed a few things, all of which I had on hand!  Yipee…love when that happens.  Here is what I used:

  • cupboard door (which I had bought from a thrift store for ONE whole dollar)
  • small wooden clothespins (Hobby Lobby)
  • burlap
  • stain/spray paint/vaseline
  • scrapbook paper
  • wall hooks
  • hot glue

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The first thing I did was stain my cupboard door.  I mostly stained the edges.

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Next I cut out ‘Birthdays’ using my Cameo, then centered it (as best I could) on the door.

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I decided to try Shanty 2 Chic’s vaseline method, so I rubbed vaseline along the edges where I wanted the stain to show through.  It really only needs a little, I think I put too much on!  Oops!

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After the vaseline rub down, I gave it a couple coats of Heirloom White spray paint and let it dry.  I love how fast spray paint dries!  Yes, I am impatient!

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Once the paint dried, I took sand paper and gently rubbed the areas that I had put vaseline on and the paint came right off, revealing the stain!  I love how it looks, but I couldn’t quite get all the vaseline off, so not sure if I would use that method again or not!?!   Next I took off the word ‘Birthdays’ to also reveal the stain.

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After gathering as much birthday info I could find, well as much as my dad could fine, I used the Print and Cut on my Cameo to make tags for the names/birthdays and months on some fun scrapbook paper.  My son helped me pick out the different colored scrapbook paper to go with the different months!  I also made some blank tags she could fill in for the people that I missed.

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Then I glued on 7, spray painted and stained, clothespins onto the bottom of the door.  I really do NOT like measuring and usually just eyeball distances, but decided that I wanted it to look perfect, so I pulled out the measuring tape to get them all equally spaced.  Then I hot glued them down and hot glued one in the upper corner to hold the ‘month’ tag.

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Once I was done, I thought it was missing a little something, so I made 3 burlap rosettes and hot glued them on in the corner!  Now it looks awesome!!!  And yes, I got another blister from the hot glue!

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Here it is with the month of October!  I love the orange! 

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My mom absolutely loved her gift!  Each month she can change out the people and will now never forget another birthday…not that she did before!

Sorry the pictures aren’t the greatest.  The sign is hung where the lighting is not the ideal for pictures!

Well, I am off to take care of my casted boys!  Wish me luck!

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Wednesday, May 2, 2012

Sew Cute Flowers!

A couple months ago, while browsing Pinterest, something I rarely do (wink, wink), I came across some amazing fabric flowers done by Snowy Bliss (go check them out) and pinned them.  Because the flowers required a sewing machine, I was nervous to start this project, so I kept putting it off.  Now that I have used my sewing machine to make pillow covers, I am a seamstress extraordinaire (yeah right, I am lucky if I sew a straight line), and knew that I could conquer these flowers.  And conquer them I did!  Woot Woot!!!

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What is the worst thing about flowers?  Right, they die!  Ugh.  Don’t you hate when you get flowers and then in a couple of days they are dead and start to stink?  I am terrible about throwing away dead flowers, mainly because I HATE washing out the vase, so my dead flowers will sit in the vase for days, weeks, months, years…okay, maybe not years, but a LONG time.  That is why I love these fabric flowers.  They look amazing and do NOT, I repeat, do NOT die! 

The flowers are not hard to make, but are time consuming, at least the first time you make them. The supplies you will need is as follows:

  • fabric remnants
  • sticks(from outside)
  • sewing machine/thread
  • hot glue gun
  • jute
  • Floral foam - the green soft stuff you use in floral arrangements
  • vase

 

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Step 1/2:  Cut strips of your fabric.  I did 5” x 30”, but you can do any size you want.  Longer fabric equals bigger flowers!  Next you will fold your fabric lengthwise and iron to get a seam.

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Step 3:  Cut a scalloped edge along the open side of your fabric.  I did not measure the scallops, so each one is different.  Once you get to about 3” to the end, make a narrow strip.

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Step 4/5:  Open up your fabric and sew a gathering stitch straight down the seam.  I had no idea what a gathering seam was, let alone how to do it, so I Googled it!  All you really do is use a basic straight stitch with the length set high, or long.  Now fold your fabric back up and stitch shut the scalloped edges and the narrow strip, but leave the end of the narrow strip open.

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Step 6:  Now gather your fabric together by pulling on the thread and pushing the fabric in the opposite direction. They kind of look like scrunchies, huh?

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Step 7:  Open end of narrow strip(I used a pen) and put in some hot glue.

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Step 8:  Insert stick and fold fabric down and around to create a point, using hot glue to hold in place.

Side note:  I am really liking my how my nails look.  :)

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Step 9:  Now just start gluing your fabric around the stick.  I put the hot glue onto the gathered part of the fabric, then stuck that on the stick.  Work your way until you are at the end of the fabric. 

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You can either glue fabric around the stick for a tighter more closed rose, or for a more full open rose, you will glue the gathered fabric close to the bottom of the fabric, near the stick, and work you way around the fabric.  Once near the end, take and glue your fabric to the stick.

Can I just say how much I wish that the hot glue from the hot glue gun wasn’t so HOT?  My fingers had numerous little blisters after this project!  Yikes.

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Step 10/11:  Cut your floral foam to fit into your vase.  Hot glue your jute around the foam, which by the way, is not easy.  The green foam gets everywhere and makes a huge mess! 

Add leaves, if you want, and arrange flowers in vase, which I purchased at .99 cent store, and tada you are finished with a floral masterpiece!

 

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I loved these so much that I decided to give them to my mom, who I love so much, for Mother’s Day.  Because I couldn’t wait to share this project with you all and since she faithfully reads my blog(thanks mom), I gave them to her early.  She was absolutely thrilled with them! 

But, don’t worry, I have something else I am working on to give her on Mother’s Day, so she will not be without a gift that day!

Linking up at:

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