DIY: Fabric Rag Garland and Pet Rock Valentines Tutorials

Today, I am giving you a SNEAK PEEK into my baby's nursery. I made this rag garland from scraps of colorful new and vintage fabrics, ribbon and pieces of clothing from us for some "personalization". I think it turned out perfect!  This garland is probably about 6 feet long and adds wonderful character to the room.



There are tons of tutorials online how to do it, but basically, you just cut/tear fabric scraps (mine were about 20 inches long and 2 inches wide), and knot them on your string/twine. I use this method for knotting. 

I only had a hodge podge of fabrics, so I made a base of white from the same fabric as the one I made for my window. Really, the garland looked just like that before I started layering more colors onto it. I add one color at a time, so I know I am evenly distributing them, so my garland won't be uneven. I have since added some more pizazz to the wall design, but that will be in another post.

 My previous DIY Pet Rock Valentine tutorial post was picked up by a cute online kids mag that featured 15 no-candy Valentine ideas that are all really cute. So be sure to visit there! Today, I am cleaning (yeah right), makng decorative hearts and stuff for my upcoming Valentine's mantle, going to work, and doing the mom thing... fun stuff! Hope your day is wonderful!

Memory and Gratitude Jar Craft Tutorial

 This memory and thankful/gratitude jars are extremely easy and simple to make. You can spend next to nothing, or go all out on supplies. Most of the time, you can just find things around the house to use to embellish your jars.

These would make great gifts! Imagine, a teacher gift, where the students write down things they appreciate about the teacher. Or a grandparent, and each grandchild/child write down things they love about grandma and a happy memory. Ooh, or a baby or bridal shower, where each person in attendance writes down a fond memory of the guest of honor and a word of advice on motherhood or marriage! It would make a touching memorial for someone who has passed on, filled with memories and trinkets of that person. The jars can hold, candles or flowers, and would look lovely on a wedding table. You can really do anything with them. And best of all, they are really fun to make with family and friends! It would be fun for a little girl's birthday party activity! Everyone just brings some ribbon, lace, twine, odds and ends and have fun together.

In my memory jars, I use items to decorate based on that memory, then fill the jars up with photos and memorabilia. Here, I have a baby and wedding jar. The butterfly pin I wore on my wedding dress and the one in the jar was on my cake. The ribbons are fragments used in my bouquet. NUME is a silly little inside joke with my husband. For the baby jar, I put her baby bow on there, and tied it with trim and ribbons. Inside, is the fabric trim we used on her blessing headband, that also matched her blessing dress that her aunt made her. I still need to fill these jars up, but you see where I am going with this. Imagine having a shelf or  with lots of little memory jars, for births, vacations, special occasions, or just because.

For the gratitude jar,. you fill it with paper scraps. You can have some method, like every Sunday night, each family member writes something they are thankful for, and include special memories or funny conversations with your kids on the paper scraps. You read them all together at Thanksgiving. Then, you can staple them together in a paper chain for your Christmas tree. Start the tradition each year and add to your paper chain for a fun, annual activity. Reading old memories and moments of gratitude from past years will really bring back some tender and silly moments each year that otherwise may have been long forgotten.

HOW TO MAKE:
Hot soapy water and vinegar are both great for cleaning sticky labels off of the glass. Lightly sand your jar lid if you want, prime with spray paint, then spray paint your desired color. A few very light coats makes for a cleaner look and better coverage than a thick coat of paint. I used hot glue to secure the cut burlap strips, then the ribbon can be glue on or tied on. Any kind of embellishments work. Making your own embellishments, such as rolled fabric flower s (tutorial) are easy and cheap. There are tons of tutorials on how to make paper and fabric flowers, or you can just buy some as well.

I even made a plain jar, with holiday themed 'corsages' that I can change throughout the seasons. There is no right or wrong way. We made these at a recent craft night and everyone's jars turned out wonderful. I would love to see if you make one and how you use it :)

Homefront: DIY Rag Garland Window Cover

I did a quick little fix during the week. Our front door has a window (and no peep hole) that lets in some light, but I feel exposed not having it covered, like any tall creeper can just peek in looking for me so they can sell me something. So my wonderful husby added these lovely taped up papers a long while back.

I wanted to make a curtain or faux roman shade, but couldn't hang a rod on the door, nor did I have any fabric laying around for that. I also saw a really neat cellophane/tissue paper tutorial for a stained glass effect, but didn't have the energy for finding the glue. But I did have an old piece of white fabric that I tore in strips, and some jute and command strips, I decided to make a little rag garland. I tied them like this easy tutorial here via Yesterday on Tuesday.
 

 

The fabric scraps weren't long enough to cover the whole window, so the little swag will have to do. To hide the command strips, I just made some quick fabric rosettes, kind of like this tutorial here, and hot glued them on, so they will peel off whenever.

It's not perfect... but compared to the alternatives, creeper peepers or ripped papers... it's an improvement in a shabbily charming sort of way. Have you ever made any last second, functional  fixes that turned out okay?

U Rock: DIY Pet Rock Valentine Cards

I have been seeing a ton of adorable diy Valentine's this year in the blogosphere, that I will likely show you soon. But my kindergartner's party is Friday, so I had to go ahead and make something for his class now.
 

So we headed to Micheal's to check out their V-Day offerings. They have tons of cute stamps on sale for 49 cents. We originally got a cute robot holding hearts, and a hedgehog that said "I'm stuck on you".. but the "U Rock" stamp caught my eye. So after going down aisle by aisle, I wasn't really seeing anything that was a) affordable and b) not too girly or c) had enough for each child... and I *almost* resorted to forgetting the diy thing and getting a store bought boxed set, (no offense to those who do, I still love the Strawberry Shortcake and My Little Pony ones I got as a kid), I was just determined to do something crafty. When I saw these bags of rocks, the "U Rock" stamp entered my mind and I thought, Pet Rock Valentines! Don't kids love rocks? My son was sold on the idea.

So, you need a few pieces of scrapbook paper, ink pad and a stamp (or just write the message out), hot glue and glue gun, rocks, paintbrushes and paint. I had most all of these supplies, so it was pretty easy and inexpensive to do. I tested my permanent markers on a rock, and they didn't show up well enough, so I settled for paint.

Stamp on the two outer/parallel edges of paper, then cut the paper in half. You can get about 12 cards from one large square piece of scrapbook paper. Once they are all cut out, fold in half and hot glue your rock above the stamp, and write your message inside. Perfect, original and cute for non-candy Valentines.

But...  on the rest of the Valentines, I accidentally folded the paper wrong and had already written on the backs, so I had to get creative with that extra flap.. I hot glued the Starburst on both sides and stuffed it in there for a little pocket. Just enough glue to keep it in place, so the kids will be able to still get to the candy quite easily. The rocks can be peeled off pretty easily too.

Not as cute in my opinion, but hey, they are for little kids who are going to be on the hunt for candy anyways, right?

My girl rocks have little hearts on the cheek, and my boy rocks have eyebrows. If you know the kids well though, it would be cute to make them more original with eye and hair color, glasses, freckles, or even go silly with mustaches, pirate patches, eyelashes and that sort of craziness... The two below are the ones I made for my kiddos.

If you make a Pet Rock Valentine, I'd love to see it! Happy crafting :)

 

Inspired Craft: Vintage Stackable Flower Tutorial

 Zivile from No Snow Supplies, and I collaborated on a little project. She sent me some of my favorite vintage stackable flower findings in exchange for a little advice on how to use them.

If you frequent antique malls or estate sales, you will see these very flowers in lots of vintage designs. I see them mostly used in large, clip-on earrings, usually with some pearls or rhinestones in the centers, and glued to the edges of the petals, see here for examples.

 First, you need some finding backings, which you can get pretty much anywhere. For the centers, you can use beads, pearls, cabs, rhinestones, basically anything semi circular that will fit in there. These flowers are a very flexible plastic, so they can work with each other really well, Just stack, glue, hold together, stack, glue.... Hot glue works great, but it peels pretty easily, so an adhesive made for jewelry is best. I like E600, though something that dries quicker is probably better.

Here, I have ring bases, earring posts, bobby pin with pad, and a pendant. You can also use wire, brooch backs, a piece of felt with a safety pin attached... pretty much anything. I would love to see a series of these flowers stacked up and held together to make a statement necklace. I've even used them to make flower fabric brooches a while back. They would even make a festive little garland or cute decor for wreaths or other little home projects. Use them to jazz up some napkin rings or refrigerator magnets something.

You can order these soft, plastic stackable flowers from No Snow Supplies to create your own projects!
She also has beads, cabs and findings in her shop, mostly vintage and colorful combinations. She is in Lithuania, and it takes about 8-12 days to arrive, a lot faster than I was expecting. If you use them, I'd love to see your projects. If you don't, what kinds of things can you see these in?

Bustle Shuffle

Welcome to my heart.


zimka

I Love bustles. I don't know if this comes from my love of all things romantic, victorian, edgy, and just a little bit of {wholesome} burlesque, but I love them.


artlab

Maybe it is because I have always loved dressing up and feeling pretty.


elliott elephant

Could be in part to having no fanny and loving that I could have one.


gaia conceptions

Or maybe the thought of it balancing out my little childbearing gut is comforting. Not at all like situps, and sweating for said excersizes.


sisters rose and ruby

Or maybe because what's her name in The King and I didn't care (or know) that the children thought she was fat due to her gigantor skirt (how they missed her teeny waist is beyond me.)


gaudy couture

I think though, it is the tattered lace, the modest disguise of hiding a figure.


bustle

Feeling demure and a little bit saucy at the same time.


stacy leigh atelier

So, I decided to make a very very VERY watered down bustle skirt for everyday wear (and also b/c I love the skirt and was trying to figure out a way to make it fit). Even though I do not machine sew, I did just a quick little stitching while I had foils (color) in my hair. (yes, I do foil my own hair late at night when the kids are sleeping so as not to frighten the sweet little beasts.)



I found this great tiered gyspy skirt (you all know the one) in a gorgeous nude color. It was about 10 sizes too big, but I couldn't pass it up. So, I took it home, gathered 2 folds in the very back and created a single back panel over the tag and pinned it.





Then, I simply hand stitched the waistband across the panel and about 3 inches down the back on each side of the fold.





Truly, it was so easy it took about 15 minutes. Now, I have a skirt that fits with a hint of a bustle on the back, but not too crazy like. You may not be able to even tell that a bustle exists.



But I can. And I like it.



If you try this project, you can get some matching tulle, snip the back panel at the top and insert pieces of tulle and lace into your slits in a descending fashion, all bustle like to really poof it out. (Just follow the inspirations of the gorgeous bustle pics I showed above!) I am actually considering doing this to my skirt, or maybe trying it on another one. I have no shame to walk into a grocery store with flip-fops, fitted tshirt and maxxed out bustle skirt.

What do you think, do I dare?