creative little daisy

Subtle, sweet touches

Quietly adding a little Valentine love around here. I'm not one to decorate for Valentine's, or really any holiday other than Christmas, but with the help of my Silhouette, I'm finding adding subtle touches easy and very satisfying.

 

...the greatest of these is LOVE

Wooden eggs, tea stained and stamped. Clearly, I do not excel in stamping. Lets just say the crooked placement was intentional and adds that done by hand charm, shall we?

It's no use crying over spilled...

Hot Chocolate?  I knocked over a full cup of hot chocolate a couple of weeks ago. A cocoa volcano erupted all over this chair. I don't think I ever got around to blogging about her latest re-do. I've painted and recovered the old girl no less than 72 times. Well, maybe a few less than 72 but definitely no less than 6. The latest look, the one before her current look was made from a walmart clearance shower curtain. I used the same fabric, to make drapes for the dining room, but that's getting off topic. Oh well, since I mentioned it, here they are.

This photo doesn't show it, but the shower curtain wasn't long enough, so I stitched a solid gray band to the bottom. Not sure I love them. The vertical stripes get lost. I'm thinking I'll get some white fabric and paint horizontal stripes. I saw it done but didn't bookmark the site. Pre pinterest days. If you are reading this and you painted horizontal stripes on fabric to make curtains, please stand up.

OK, back to the chair. It was a hot mess. Literally. I would have been really upset if I had paid someone to cover it, but since I did the work and used clearance fabric, it was no biggie. I made one, I could make another. 

I dug around in my fabric stash and decided to go with a solid dark gray with cream piping.

I made double welt cording for the first time thanks to this helpful tutorial.   I used it around the back cushion and around the back of the chair. It's a little wonky here and  there, but not so much I want to rip it off and start over.

I think she's pretty sassy with her ruffly new dress. Don't you?

 

I'll be linking at some fun parties, check em out.

 

 

Are you Pinning?

I am and I love it! Pinterest is essentially an on-line inspiration board. A place to pin and catalog all the things you love.

Not only can you catalog your loves, you can see what your friends are pinning, cause Lord knows, we need to know what our friends are up to. (said with a bit of sarcasm) I like Facebook, really I do, but do I really need to know that you are having a ham sandwich for lunch. Just sayin.

Anyhoo, back to Pinterest, the other day I was trying to think of something clever or inspirational to write on the chalkboard in my kitchen. I remembered re-pinning some wordy inspiration, so I went there to find a phrase.  I decided on one I liked and began to write it on my wall. It didn't take me long to realize I'd never get effect I wanted free hand. I loved the subway sign style of the original.  Hey, this would be a great way to use my Silhouette. I could have cut it in vinyl, but I really wanted it to be written in chalk. So I cut a stencil with some contact paper left over from another project.

I used a chalk pen to fill in the letters.

Love it!

If you want to see my pins, you can click the link over there in the right sidebar.

 

On the topic of links, see the one with all the pretty faces, that says join this site- if you are a subscriber of my blog through google reader, would you do me a favor and click that? It may be a bit silly. OK, it is silly, but it's something that's been bothering me for a while. I've been at this blogging thing for quite a while, five years,  and I've made lots of friends.  According to google reader, I have more than 6,400 subscribers. I'd just love it if that silly little widget had a lot more of your smiling faces on it.

 

 

I'll be linking at some fun parties. Check em out!

 

I hereby award myself...

The worst blogger award. I have really become such a bad blogger. I fell right off the face of the earth there, didn't I? Not even a proper thank you to the folks who so kindly joined my first ever link party. Thank you ladies! Sorry it's so late coming.

I didn't really fall off the face of the earth. Actually, I was holed up in the sewing room, sewing and gluing my little fingers off in preparation for Christmas. Here's where the really bad blogger part comes in. I made at least 75% of the gifts I gave this year, and do I have a photo? That would be a very sheepish, head hung in shame, no.

The shame of it! At one point I had about a dozen fleece scarfs adorned with singed fabric flowers on my sewing table. Great blog photo op right? Too busy to get the camera and the lighting in there stinks... excuses, excuses.

Alyssa knowing how shameful it was not to take proper photos, kindly left one of her gifts here for me to photograph. My daughter is a better blogger than me and she doesn't even have a blog.

It's a teapot lamp. Wonderful instruction on how to make your own can be found at Vintage Revivals. I used all elements I already had, just had to plop down 20 bucks for the drill bit. Even at that, I think it's a pretty cute gift for $20, don't you? Alyssa especially loved the lamp, because she collects pretty tea cups.

I don't have a photo of the pile of scarfs I made, but I did take one of my own, just so I could share how cute it is and encourage you to make your own, cause it was crazy easy.

And inexpensive.

And it's really warm.  A big thank you to Suzanne at Just Another Hangup for the tutorial.

I also made some cute little girlie stuff for Bayleigh's new room. Alyssa re-did her room for Christmas. Is she her mama's girl or what? She worked like crazy getting it ready and revealed it on Christmas morning. Bayleigh had no idea it was going on. I'll get pictures and share them soon. She got a new kitchen made from an old entertainment center. C.U.T.E!!

So, Merry Christmas and Happy New Year, from the official worst blogger.

**I didn't forget I promised to give away two fabric flowers and I did rrandomly select a name- the day I said I would. It was Rachel.  Rachel, email me your address and I'll send you your flowers.

Love My Cutter linky party

I jumped on the bandwagon and purchased (after multiple failed attempts at winning) a Silhoutte Craft Cutter. My friend Kelli bought one too, and we're wondering, what now? What cool things can we do with our new toy? Help us out by sharing what you've done using your Silhouette or Cricut. We'd love to see some Christmas gift and decor ideas. Kelli has a teenage daughter with lots of freinds. Any good ideas for teen girl gifts? How about the neighbor who has everything?

This being my first ever linky party, I hope things go smoothly. I'm not one for a bunch of rules, the only thing I ask is you don't link to an item that is for sale. This isn't about advertising, it's about sharing ideas.  And since it is a "party" don't just drop your link and run. Mingle, visit the other guests and it would be great if you posted a link on your blog so all your other friends can join the fun.  You don't have to be a follower of this blog to participate, but I'd love it if you were. I love making new friends!

 

Lets get this party started.

 

Making cookies and a new toy

Miss Bayleigh and I baked cookies last night. Not from scratch, but hey, we did have to use the oven, so we did bake. Right?

She's not discriminating. It didn't matter that they came out of a pack.

Nope, didn't mind one bit.

I got a new lens yesterday. Finally, I can take fairly descent photos in low light without using a flash.

And I'm no Pioneer Woman, but check out the bokeh.

 

Please remember to come back tonight at 8 to link up your Silhouette and Cricut projects. 

 

Singed Fabric Flowers... a little how to

First let me start by saying, I know I am not the first to post a tutorial on how to make flowers and I don't think my technique differs much from any other method I've seen out there. After I posted photos of the singed flowers I made, I received a few requests for a tutorial, so here it goes.

If you are grossed out by old lady looking hands and unmanicured fingernails, this tutorial isn't for you. If you decide to continue on, laughing at my hands is not allowed.

I will show you two differnt styles. One by simply cutting circles, the other involves petaled blooms.

The one on the right is made up of layers of circles, the one on the left the layers are cut into petal shapes.

Here's what you'll need:

A note about the fabric. You want a synthetic fabric that will melt. Not cotton. I've found  lighter weight fabric gives you fuller more ruffly flowers. Lining type fabric. Today I'm using a light weight satin. Think bridesmaid dress.

I like to make the back of the flower so that you can wear it in your hair with a clip or a headband or as a corsage with a pin back. That is where the stiff interfacing (peltex) and heat n' bond come in. 

Peltex can be found in the interfacing section of fabric stores and if your walmart still has a fabric section they have it there too.

The heat n' bond allows you to fuse two fabrics together, or in this case fabric and the peltex.  It will make sense in a moment.

Cut a small square (~3") from the peltex, your flower fabric and slightly smaller piece of heat n' bond.

Using your iron, fuse the heat n bond to the peltex.

Allow to cool and remove the paper backing from the heat n' bond

Place the fabric over the peltex and iron. This fuses your fabric to the peltex.

You could actually skip the steps above and move on to the next step. They aren't necessary, but it allows the back of the flower to look nice.

Cut a circle from your fabric covered peltex (or just peltex) about 2 inches.

This is a little hard to see, but with a seam ripper or x-acto knife, cut two small slits about 3/8" that are about 1/2" apart.  Am I totally confusing you? It will make sense.

Now set that aside, that will be your flower back. Lets make a flower.

For the first one, cut circles ( 2 or 3  of each size) in graduating sizes- the largest being about 4 inches, the smallest about 2 inches.

The fabric is thin so you can fold it and cut several layers at a time. Just pin the layers together to keep things from slipping around.

Now that your circles are all cut, let's heat things up. I like to use a small jar candle to singe the edges. Don't actually touch the fabric to the flame, just hold it close enough to melt slightly. You can play around to get the feel for how much melting and curling you like and how close or far from the flame you need to hold it.

Very carefully, continue all the way around the circle for all your circles.  For the smaller circles you may want to hold the fabric with some tweezers to keep from burning your fingers.

 

Once you have all circles singed, stack them largest to smallest and secure in the center with a few stitches or a dab of glue between each layer. I like to secure it with a pin then place a few stitches in the center with my sewing machine.  Then I dab a tiny bit of hot glue here and there between the layers. You don't want much glue, just a tiny dot to secure things a bit. You can also add  circles of tulle between a few of the layers to give it some extra dimension if you like.

I didn't take a photo of this, but you can embellish the center any way you like. Buttons, beads... whatever suits your fancy. For this one I had an old rhinestone button I glued to the center with hot glue.

Now for the back. Grab that circle you cut earlier and slide some tweezers through the slits.

Run a bead of hot glue around the perimeter of the circle.

Still holding it with the tweezers, slap that sucker on the back of your flower. You want to position it so that it is above center so the top of the flower doesn't flop outward when you have it pinned on.

See, the back looks nice and neat and because you only glued the perimeter those slits remained open to slide in a hair clip,

or a headband

Or a pin back. Sorry I couldn't find one today to photograph. They sell these at any craft store. Open the pin and slide the back portion under the slits. It may take a little wiggling, but it will work.

Now you are finished and you can enjoy your flower in your hair, on your clothes, on a purse. Anywhere you like.

For the other flower, you follow the same steps except instead of cutting out circles you cut a clover shape. I just found a clover in clip art in microsoft word and printed three different sizes.  Just print it in black and white. No need to waste ink. You are just using it for the shape or you can draw it freehand if you're good at that type thing. I am not.

So I printed mine.

Use these as patterns to cut your fabric. Again, 2-3 of each size, depending on how full you want your flower. And remember to secure the layers with a pin. That slippery fabric likes to shift.

Another method that works almost as well as using a pattern is to begin with a square of fabric.

fold it in half

in half again

and again.

Then cut off that top pointy part. Round it so that it looks like an ice cream cone. With a tiny scoop of ice cream on top.

Then continue the steps above for melting the edges. For this style flower, I also hold the flower directly over the flame, so as to melt the center slightly.

It causes the flower to pucker up and gives it a little more dimension. Remember, don't actually touch the flame, just hold it above.

Stack the petals and you have a flower.

Here is a photo of the machine stitching I do to secure the layers in the center.

Embellish the center any way you like, glue that back on and you're in business.

pretty back with a hair clip

same pretty back with a headband

 

The pretty color of the purple flower didn't come through in most of these photos, here's one more that shows the color better. You can also see the size. It's about the size of the palm of my hand.

wish I had noticed that little string of hot glue earlier

Now go forth and make flowers, but please don't burn anything down.

If you'd like to win these two flowers, leave a comment and I'll randomly select a winner Monday morning, say 8am.

 

At least she looked angelic

Bayleigh and Mrs. Jill

A week before our church's Christmas program I was asked to make costumes for the three littlest angels, Bayliegh included. Needed were three dresses, three halos and one set of wings. The dresses and halos were easy, but the wings gave me a bit of an unexpected fit. When we had a week to play with Alyssa got online to find a set we could buy. Oh no, there is no need to buy, even if they are only five dollars a set. No, they will be easy to make. I was so sure they would be so easy, I didn't stress at all. Just use one of the sets we have as a guide, bend a coat hanger, cover it with white tights or pantyhose, add some glittery accents and done. No prob. You know where this is going, right? To make a very long story short, after a few failed attempts for various reasons, on Sunday afternoon, I still had no wings. In a panic I grabbed a set of pink fairy wings off the shelf at the Dollar General with no idea how I would make them work.  I rushed home and painted them white with acrylic craft paint. I'm sure you can imagine how that worked out. Not too cute and still pinkish. I grabbed a can of white spray paint and saturated them, hung them outside to dry and prayed. Just as I was beginning to think I was going to have to cut a set out of cardboard Alyssa came to the rescue. She remembered an old costume hanging in her closet. Attached to the hem was a big white feather boa. She said, cut this off and glue it onto the white spray painted wings. Oh yea, I can do that. I can glue like nobodies business. With minutes to go, I emerged from the craft room with a beautiful set of angel wings. So beautiful we worried that it may seem I was playing favorites by making Bayleigh a prettier set than the other angels. Of course that wasn't the case. Here she was being angelic in the vestibule of the church. It went downhill from there. As time drew near for her to walk down the isle of the church with the five other angels, she began to protest. She wanted Nana to hold her. OK fine, I'll walk down with you, I can carry you and  I'll even sit with you in the choir loft. As the doors opened the tears turned to sobs, the further down the isle we went the louder the crying. The angels were to walk, two by two, down the isle, step onto the stage and enter the choir loft from either side. As we approached the stage the crying and wailing had turned to screams.  I stepped onto the stage and didn't even bother going into the choir loft. There was no way I was going to sit up there with this wailing child.  I  walked right off the side and tried to clam her.  Her mommy came over and retrieved her, since between the wails she could hear I want my mommy. Even after being placed in her mommy's arms, she continued the crying, only now she's calling for nana. Unable to console her, Alyssa took her out of the sanctuary and waited in the fellowship hall for the program to end. Her big stage debut was over. Oh well, she sure did look pretty. Maybe next year.

 

 

I'm getting a little nervous about my party planned for Sunday. What if no one shows?  I can see myself like the geeky teen, who invited all the cool kids to her birthday party. You know the scene, the poor geeky kid is eating chips and sipping punch by the lonely food table at midnight, because no one showed up for her party. I hope you'll show up and bring a friend with your cool projects made using a Silhouette or Cricut. Sunday beginning at 8pm.  I even made a little button you can take if you like buttons. The button and code are over there on the right.

 

What I was doing a few days before Thanksgiving

We had about 20 people here for Thanksgiving. What do you think I was doing the Monday and Tuesday before? If you guessed cooking, you'd be wrong. Cleaning? Nope. Painting and hanging bead board wallpaper? BINGO!

On Wednesday I was making curtains and a coffee filter wreath.

Somewhere in there I also painted a thrift store light fixture, dressed it up with a pretty shade, installed it and hung some plates on the wall. 

On Thursday, I was a cooking, cleaning fool. Thank goodness we didn't eat until 6.

I still need to come up with a Christmas Centerpiece for the table.

Cause I love a good before/after, here's the before.

Don't forget to link up your Silhouette and Cricut projects here, beginning Sunday at 8pm.

I'll be linking up at some of these parties.