January 22, 2010 in Blog Feature, Sewing, Tutorial | 1 comment

Do you remember this? I got the idea from one of my new favorite blogs. . .Ruffles and Stuff. I have said this before, but I love Disney’s style. I am all about making something fabulous out of almost nothing, and she does a fantastic job of showing us how to do that. Disney is a preacher’s wife and has a beautiful little 2-year-old who happens to do most of the modeling for the site. I’m telling you, there are troves of fabulous ideas, so dive into her archives, and don’t forget to check out her etsy shop as well!

$2 “Ruffle Necklace” Waffle Shirt

Before: I got these PJ’s for my daughter at the Dollar Store of all places, with the intention of making them pretty, but when I got home I couldn’t find a coordinating fabric that I liked, so I decided to just re-do the shirt!

So I cut a leg off…

Cut it into 5 strips, about 3/4″ wide, and ruffled them on my machine…

Pinned them to the shirt where in a necklace pattern, with the excess all hanging off one end. After I sewed them on, I wrapped the excess ruffles into a rose pattern and hand stitched it with two pearls in the center.

Then I stitched a bow on, made from some vintage ribbon I had on hand. I love the color!

Cutie Pie!!

If I hadn’t been too lazy to go back down to the $ store, I would have bought another pair of pants, and ruffled the bum or something. My daughter really needs jammies! And I’d love to have some that didn’t have a cartoon character on them.

P.S. Sorry about doing ruffles again! I can’t help myself. The blog name should have warned you! )

Thanks Disney!

Tags: Disney, Inexpensive Crafts, Ruffles and Stuff, Sewing, Shirt Re-Vamp, Tutorial, vintage

The Tortoise and the Hare {Blog Feature}

January 12, 2010 in Blog Feature, Tutorial | 1 comment

I am so excited about today’s blog feature. The Tortoise and the Hare is a great blog written by 2 adorable sisters with eyes for greatness. I actually have the privilege of knowing one of the sisters, Michelle, thanks to my husband’s great choice in friends. . .and my husband’s friend’s great choice in wives (make sense?). If I lost you somewhere in the middle of that last sentence, let me rephrase, Michelle’s husband and my husband are long time friends. Anyway Michelle also happens to be a fantastic photographer, and last time she took my family’s pictures, I asked her if she would be willing to contribute a tutorial to this blog. She graciously agreed, and she has come up with something fabulous for us. After you check out this adorable addition to our tutorials, hop, or crawl on over to The Tortoise and the Hare and get your daily dose of inspiration.

mini banner canvas wall art

Supplies:

canvas board

mod podge

paper/fabric scraps

foam brush

clothesline (or any other ribbon, string, yarn, etc. you prefer)

glue gun

triangle template

embellishments (optional)

Step 1: Using your triangle template cut out 20 (or so) triangles with your paper/fabric scraps.

Step 2: Take glue gun and secure clothesline in place on back of canvas board.

Step 3: Drap clothesline across canvas board and secure with glue gun on opposite side.

Step 4: Use mod podge and foam brush and brush over clothesline to secure in place on top of canvas board.

Step 5: Use finger to smooth out clothesline.

Step 6: Begin placing cut triangles, using mod podge and foam brush, under clothesline to give the look of a banner. Once in place take foam brush and paint over triangles with mod podge.

Repeat steps 2 – 6 if desired.

Add embellishments and you are finished.

A perfectly simple and fun piece of art work for any room in your home.

Tags: Canvas Art, Inexpensive Crafts, Michelle, Tortoise and the Hare, Tutorial, Wall Art

Sew What?!

January 4, 2010 in Humor, Sewing | 3 comments

The other day I found a fabulous blog called Ruffles and Stuff. Disney, the author of the blog (I know, awesome name!) is such an inspirational woman! She can make almost anything out of almost nothing, and she makes it look so easy! I know that this entire blog is about becoming a more well rounded woman, and while I see so many things that are inspire me, there only a few things that make me want to get right to work recreating them. Her blog is one of those things. She has a great way of making things look so feminine and expensive with stuff she usually has lying around. It’s amazing! I am really excited because I have already contacted Disney and she has agreed to allow me to use her for an upcoming {Blog Feature}. But in the mean time, I just had to try one of her projects. One of her most recent ventures was converting her little girl’s tights into knee socks. Once she had done that, she had several leftover “tight tops” that she just had to do something with. So, being the brilliant mind that she is, she turned them into bubble skirts for her little girl. Can I just say AH-Some!

Her is one of the adorable skirts she made! She went on to say, in her own words, that the skirts are “actually very easy!’

I have a 2 year old little girl, well, actually she will be 2 tomorrow, and she made these little skirts for her 2 year old, so the project just called to me. My little girl’s 0-6 month tights, that for some reason I keep around,were begging to be transformed into an adorable little skirt, and since the skirts were “very easy” I figured I had nothing to lose.

I guess this would be a good time for my giant disclaimer:

DISCLAIMER: I am not a seamstress! I own a sewing machine which resides in my basement 364 days a year. I have attempted to make 3 things with my sewing machine in it’s long life including a set of Christmas Stockings which brought my own mother to tears with laughter!

I took myself on over to walmart to pick up some fabric. I decided on some silky looking pink stuff. It was $1.50 a yard. I used less than half of it so the whole project cost me less than $0.75 because the tights had been purchased 2 years ago (so they don’t count).

(Take note of my professional supplies!)

Then my project began. I followed Disney’s instructions step-by-step. Here is a word to the wise, if you have to google “gathering stitch,” you just might not be ready to do one! I worked on that darn gathering stitch for at least an hour! After tugging and tugging with no gathering what-so-ever, I realized that I wasn’t supposed to pull the top and bottom strings at the same time. Then, once I figured out which string to pull, I would get halfway through the gathering process and the thread would snap. Bringing me to my next word to the wise, when attempting any project that requires a gathering stitch, don’t use discount thread that has been sitting in your basement for 10 years. I ended up with this:

Notice my lovely straight lines which echos my sewing precision! I don’t know why I didn’t take a picture of it, but I ended up with two more lines of stitches. I know, bless my heart!

Once I finally got the gathering thing down, I continued on to the next steps, sewing the tops together and repeating with the bottom. However, when I finished with the bottom, I ended up with this:

It was sewn completely inside out without any vision of the pretty side of the fabric. At that point, I called my mom in defeat. She suggested that I simply unpick a small section of the bottom and turn the skirt right side out. I was thrilled that I didn’t have to unpick the entire thing. Once I had followed through with her suggestion, I ended up with this:

A beautiful fabric donut resembling nothing skirt-like. At that point I nearly quit, but I hate to cower in defeat, so I pressed on. I did unpick the entire bottom of the skirt and tried again, and I got this:

No! Not the belly button. . . the asymmetrical looking skirt!

I then decided to take it a step further and make some little lovelies to try to cover up some of my mistakes, and finally, the end result. . . . . .

So in the end, was it worth it? For $0.75 I say, Heck Yeah! And yes mother, I did iron the fabric before sewing it, the poor thing went through a lot to get where it is!

For a full (and professional) tutorial for this project, click here!

Tags: Disney, funny, Inexpensive Crafts, Kaydee's Project, Ruffles and Stuff, Sewing, Skirt

Kirin Notebook {Blog Feature}

January 1, 2010 in Blog Feature, Sewing, Tutorial | 1 comment

Lara Cameron, resident of Melbourne, Australia, and author of the fabulous blog Kirin Notebook, has honored us with a great tutorial. I have three kids, so having a cushion cover with a zipper would be a dream! This tutorial looks so easy and completely practical. But aside from the tutorial itself, I want you to take note of the georgous fabric. Laura is a textile designer and co-owner of ink and spindle. I absolutely adore their fabric. The colors and patterns are to die for! So take a trip over to Lara’s site, and get sewing!

How to sew a cushion cover with an invisible zip – A Tutorial!!

Cushion covers with invisible zips – let me show you how!

It has been a very, very VERY long time since I’ve posted a tutorial on this here blog. Truth be told it’s been a long time since I’ve learnt how to do any new and exciting things, until last weekend when Pete’s mum showed me how she made cushions with invisible zips!

They look great, but the thing that excited me most was that it was EASY. Like 10 gazillion times less fuss and hassle than any other technique I’ve tried for sewing zips. So I decided to document the process and share it with you lovely folk. Now I must say that although Heather showed me how to do this, she originally learnt the technique from here, so huge kudos to the Sew? I Knit! Blog!

Step 1) Cut your fabrics to size. I’m making covers for a 45cm cushion so my pieces are 47cm x 47cm including a 1cm seam allowance. I also overlock the bottom edge of each piece where the zip is going to go.

Step 2) Prepare your invisible zip! Pictured below are the sort we buy. They’re “heavy duty” ones, and you’ll see that the bulky teeth side of the zip is the BACK rather than the FRONT like on normal zips. We use a 40cm zip for a 45cm cushion.

Now it makes the sewing process a LOT easier if you iron the zip out flat before you begin. Open the zip completely and see that you can kind of ‘roll’ the teeth outwards to expose some tiny stitches beneath. Iron the zipper with the teeth rolled outwards as shown below, and just go as close to the zipper head as you can. Use a low heat setting so as not to melt the teeth!

Step 3) Pin the zip in place. Open the zip right up and lay it along the bottom edge of your fabric. The RIGHT side of your zip should be facing down, with the RIGHT side of your fabric facing up. The zipper tape should be lined up with very edge of the fabric.

Also, you’ll notice below that I’ve positioned the zip to one side, with the closed end starting right in the corner. I’ll explain this later.

Step 4) Prepare your invisible zipper foot. Okay these are often very weird plasticcy contraptions, but they’re not expensive and you can get them from most sewing places. There’s generic ones that come with various attachments so you can fit them on any machine. YOU MUST USE AN INVISIBLE ZIPPER FOOT. Trying to sew an invisible zipper without one would be very tricky indeed.

Step 5) Sew your zip in place. You’ll see that the invisible zipper foot has two grooves in it’s base. Your folded out zipper teeth will fit in one of these grooves whilst the needle stitches very closely beside the teeth. You’ll probably need to adjust the position of the foot or the needle to get a nice close stitch. Begin sewing where the zipper teeth start and stitch towards the zipper head. Keep the teeth folded out flat as you go.

Sew along the length of the zip, removing pins as you go, until you reach the zipper head. You’ll probably get to about 1cm away from the zipper head before you have to stop. That’s fine. Just do a locking stitch and raise the foot. You’re done with that side!

Step 6) Sew the other side. Repeat steps 3-5 for the other side. Be careful to pin the correct side of your zip to the correct side of your fabric:

Sew along the length of the zip as you did before, this time with the teeth of the zipper in the OPPOSITE groove to the one you used before. Sew until you reach the zipper head and stop, do a locking stitch and raise the foot.

Step 7) Finish off the ends of your zip. If you close your zip completely (ooh it’s so neatly concealed!) you’ll see that the head and tail of the zip are still exposed. Like this:

And this:

But to close these ends off is quite simple. Lay your fabrics together again right sides facing. You’ll see where your zip stitching ends – a few centimeters from each side of your cushion.

Attach a normal zipper foot to your machine with the needle to the right of the foot. Sew in from the side of your fabric and try and get as close as possible to your existing stitches. Hold the ziper tail out of the way so it doesn’t get caught in your stitches.

Do the same at the other end. When working the open end of the zip, make sure that your fabric & stitches are lined up correctly, and move the zipper head along a bit so it’s not in your way.

Step Admire your handiwork so far. Doesn’t it look all neat and tidy? Wasn’t that so much less painful than you expected? Also notice that your zipper ends up being more or less centered because of how we offset it’s position in the first place.

Step 9) Finish it off! Finishing the cushion from this point is a simple affair. Simply lay the cushion front & back fabrics together right sides facing and stitch around the remaining three sides. Make sure you open the zip first before doing so! Then overlock the edges if desired.

Et voila! Here’s the ones I just made for our home:

Cushion with Rooftops and Delft

New cushions hanging out on the couch. Featuring Delft, Rooftops & Birch prints.

~Thanks Laura, it’s been a pleasure!

Tags: Kirin Note, Pillows, Sewing, Textile, Tutorial

Wildflowers::Pretty {blog feature}

December 23, 2009 in Blog Feature, Sewing | No comments

I have been in touch with Anna, the author of wildflowers::pretty, and she has graciously agreed to let me feature her blog on Well Rounded Women. When I was in college, I was friends with a young man who informed me that the type of woman he was looking for, to someday wed, was what he liked to call, “a knitter.” He explained that women who knew how to knit were often skilled in many areas and possesed many of the qualitites he wanted in a wife. I don’t know if that gentelman ever found his “knitter,” but I have certainly found one in Anna, and multi-talented she is! I have decided to publish a post about a swimsuit. Why? Because the suit itself is fabulous, and this freezing cold weather has me dreaming of a beautiful day at the beach. Enjoy the post, and make sure you check out Anna’s blog, wildflowers::pretty.

1930s inspired b athing suit.

1930s inspired bathing suit, originally uploaded by gracefullady.

I don’t know, but I feel a slight bit nekid posting this picture. But I decided to post it nonetheless. I’m kind of excited about this suit made from a dress and I wanted to share in case some of you might like to try it yourself. I actually wanted a more simple suit and it would have been, but then I screwed up by cutting a low back. And guess what? You cut a low back and suddenly there is no support for the front and sides! So I had to cut off the top/front, gather it and attach this woven binding I happened to have on hand. I was seriously about ready to throw the dang thing across the room. But yay, it worked out after all! And I modeled it off of my original wool bathing suit from the 1930s.

Notes from flickr:remember this? using this dress from forever21, i transformed it into a bathing suit similar to this original wool suit i own. i had some problems along the way and initially thought it would be much more simple, only shortening the skirt and changing the straps into halter straps. but i was stupid and cut the back lower and suddenly, the front didn’t fit right. anyway, it worked out in the end.

{pardon my whiteness. i’m not used to showing this much skin! unless i’m at the lake, where 99% of the women there are wearing bikinis!}

Tags: swimsuit, vintage

In(side) the Loop Blog Feature

December 16, 2009 in Blog Feature | 1 comment

A while back I ran across this fabulous blog, and I just had to get the author on here! In(side) the Loop is written by a spunky girl named Courtney. Let me just tell you, she is awesome! In my opinion, she defines the phrase “well rounded woman.”

Here is a little bit about her taken from her own blog, “A Louisiana native, I moved to New York and led the wholesale divisions for Hollywould and Jill Stuart, as well as designed with couturier Ralph Rucci. I have spent the last 4 years “Inside the Loop” in Houston, Texas. Now, with my amazing husband and furry daughter, Burkly Deluxe, we embark on our next adventure in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.” I mean seriously who just picks up and moves to Malaysia?

Courtney gave me permission to publish one of her posts here, but after looking through them, there was NO way that I could pick one. She has so many interests, and such a zest for life that I just felt like it was impossible to get the true essence of “her” into one post. Luckily, she was kind enough to email me a list of a few of her favorites. I had a difficult time picking one even from the condensed list, but I have just come to the realization that I will just have to tell you to head on over to her site and be enlightened yourselves.

As much as I love all of her posts, this one just speaks to me. Maybe it’s because as a WAHM of three kids, the thought of being able to do something so spontaneous and exciting seems like a distant dream, but really I just think that it captures some of her fun personality.

Friday, July 18, 2008

Shear Genius

I am borderline insane.

This morning I met a friend for coffee. For a couple of months now, she and I have been trying to visit New York City, but flight and hotel rates are astronomical. Since they don’t seem to be dropping, we planned for a September trip.

Something many of you may not know [...this is where the whole insane bit may come into play], I fly to New York to get my hair cut. Before you pass judgement, allow me to explain. My hair is half curly, half straight and all frizz, and it takes a special person to control it. When I lived in the city, the angels descended to Earth and led me to Corvette, the most amazing man to ever comb his fingers through my hair and tousle it just so [Hi J, I love you!].

My curls were standing straight as I thought about being reunited with him come September. Corvette is nothing short of shear genius.

Around 10AM, I received insider information: Corvette is leaving me. As of Wednesday, he is going on tour as Madonna’s personal stylist for five whole months. I am both ecstatic and enraged all at the same time. So, I did what any crazed normal girl would do, I immediately booked an appointment for Saturday at 1PM in New York City. I live in Houston.

So, yes, I am traveling 1,630 miles to get my hair cut. And as ridiculous as it may sound, I have no qualms about it. We only get one shot at life and I can’t wait to board that flight at 5PM tomorrow afternoon.

If you want to see the result of her fabulous do, you’ll just have to pay her a visit on “In(side) The Loop.” You can find other highlights here, here, and here. Thanks again Courtney, it has been a pleasure!

Tags: Hair, New York, Spontaneity

Vintage Photos

December 14, 2009 in Photos, Photoshop, Tutorial | No comments

I LOVE photoshop. I have only just barely scratched the surface on all of the wonderful things this program can do. Even thought I only know a tiny bit, I am completely smitten. Recently my family had our pictures taken by a fantastic photographer, Michelle Tandy. She does such a great job and is such a talented person. In fact, she may be the star of an upcoming blog feature showing off her mad crafting skills.

Today I wanted to show you this fun little trick I learned to use on our photos. A while back I found awesome picture wall by Tara Whitney and I fell in LOVE! I totally want to do that.

Screen_shot_2009-12-01_at_2.01.43_PM[1] Michelle took some great photos that I am excited to use for my future wall, but one thing that I loved about these pictures is the frame around the photos. The technique for adding the frames is SO simple, but for some crazy reason, I didn’t know the option to do so even existed. I have been playing around with a few of the shots she took and I really like how they turned out.

The technique is so simple and adds such a great effect, I just had to share:).

First things first, I used Adobe Photoshop 6 to create my photos, I am pretty sure it can be done in other versions as well, but 6 is what I happen to have, so that is what this tutorial is going to be based on.

The frames are called ttv frames. It is an actual setting on fancy pants cameras, but if you don’t have that setting, you can use “fake ttv frame.” There is a great collection of them here. Once you find one, or a few, that you like, save it in jpeg format on your computer. This is the one that I used for most of my photos, but there are lots to choose from. ttv6

Once you have your frame and your picture picked out, open both of them in your photoshop program. You will want to get both images (frame and your picture) in the same file. I like to simply select File, New…blank file. If you want your image to be square, set the size accordingly, otherwise, set it for the specifications you want your image to be. I set mine at 12×12. Here is one of the images I picked to work on:

It is cute as is, but something about it just whispers “vintage.”

Once you have both of your images open (frame and picture) Select your picture, then click on Layer-, Duplicate Layer-, step 1

then when the duplicate layer box pops up, select your new blank file from the little drop-down menu. It will probably “untitled 1.” step2

Do that for your frame as well.

When you have both of your images in your new file, simply make sure that you have the frame layer selected, and that you can’t see your picture because the frame is in front of it. Then click on the drop-down menu right below the layers tab on your side bar step3 and select one of the options. I tend to lean towards, Darken, Multiply, or Color Burn, but it is totally about what you want your image to look like.

It’s that simple! Here is the finished product for my little girl’s vintage shot. I’m really happy with how it turned out!

ellievintage

I also did a black and white version of our family photo: famvintage

The steps are still the same, I just desaturated the picture, and picked a frame with a grey undertone. Have fun and play around, I would love to see what you come up with!

Tags: Photos, Photoshop, Tutorial, vintage

Awful Library Books (Blog Feature)!

December 10, 2009 in Blog Feature, Books, Humor | No comments

In our quest to become more well rounded, many of us have set the goal to become more “well read.” Well, I have ran into a site which certainly will not help us in that quest! It will however, showcase all of the wonderful (sarcasm intended) pieces of literature available in our public library system. This fits perfectly with Well Rounded Women because, for me, they opened my eyes to a source of humor and delight that I didn’t know existed. And not only that, aside from the humor and delight, they have an important quest they are pursuing, their goal is to emphasize how important it is to keep our library collections up-to-date. Trust me, once you pay them a visit, you will have a hard time leaving. Besides, who’s to say that blog reading isn’t a talent?

I have had the pleasure of corresponding with Holly, one of the awful librarians, and she has been sweet enough to take the time to share a little more about her blog with us. So here it is, courtesy of Holly, straight off the reference desk somewhere in Michigan:

Awful Library Books (www.awfullibrarybooks.info) is a collection of “awful” titles found on the shelves in anonymous libraries around the world. Authors Holly Hibner and Mary Kelly comment on what makes each title such a poor choice for the type of library it is held by. No actual libraries are named – the goal of the web site is to have a few laughs and encourage people to think about library collection quality, not to “out” those whose collections hold these questionable items.

Holly and Mary shared a desk for over ten years in a public library in Michigan, and over the course of that decade some funny, obscure, and esoteric titles crossed their paths for one reason or another. It was like a game to see who could find the most awful library book. When they presented at a library conference on the topic of collection quality, they decided to use some of these titles to make their point that libraries need to be aware of what is on their shelves and how that affects their relevancy. They posted the titles in blog form, which proved to be popular with librarians and lay-people alike! Now they get several submissions each day, from around the world.

Holly and Mary are quick to point out that there are no awful books, but there are certainly awful library books. They love old books, and they celebrate the time in history when those books were relevant. However, when patrons find old books on library shelves, they often assume that is the best the library has to offer. The library then looks irrelevant and unhelpful. Libraries of all kinds need to be sure that their collections are up-to-date and helpfully serve their users. There is a place for old books where people can enjoy them: special collections, displays, museums, archives, and maybe even state libraries.

In November 2009, Holly and Mary were guests on the Jimmy Kimmel Live show to talk about Awful Library Books. The segment can be seen online at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oxQvm2oLewU. It was great fun and a once-in-a-lifetime experience to talk about libraries and funny books on national TV!

In late December, Holly and Mary plan to post a “Best of the Worst” list of their favorite titles of 2009. Submissions from all kinds of libraries are welcome at awfullibrarybooks@gmail.com. Follow Awful Library Books on Facebook and Twitter, too!

Holly also told me I could feature a post from their site, this post was titled “Satan For Kids” I almost died in disbelief!

satancover

Don’t Make Me Go Back, Mommy: A child’s book about satanic ritual abuse
Sanford & Evans
1990

Submitter: “I give thee the most awful library book ever. Seriously. I found this little gem a few years ago doing a project for a young adult class and ILL-ed it from [a seminary!] … but 89 libraries have it in WorldCat, mostly public! Not only is the subject horrible, but the storyline is jumbled, and the pictures are cheeeeeesey colored pencil.”

Holly: This is unbelievable. There is truly a book for every subject, isn’t there? Well, if your community has a problem with satanic rituals, this might be a great choice for your children’s section. Can you imagine a child stumbling upon this: “Mommy, I want THIS one!” Story time on the dark side.

Here are a couple of sample pages:

mommy don't make me go backthere2

Oh, I wish I could post more pages. Truly unbelievable. Crying, naked children standing in the woods in a circle being told that nothing can be told outside the circle and that their parents have given them to the hooded people…I may have nightmares from this one. Are you supposed to read this to traumatized children after they’ve been part of a satanic ritual? It’s not comforting!

Mary: I couldn’t believe this was published let alone in a bunch of public library collections. Did someone say in a collection development meeting ”hey we need some kiddie books on satanic ritual abuse”? This is the scariest book I have ever seen. Librarians, please fill me in if you know anything about this book or topic. I am utterly speechless!

Thanks Holly!

Tags: awful library books, funny, reading

Dollar Store Crafts: Festive Garland

December 7, 2009 in Blog Feature, Christmas | No comments

Happy Monday to you all! If you happen to be a little down-trodden with a case of “The Mondays,” I just might have a fun little project to get you out of your funk.

Heather, from Dollar Store Crafts, was kind enough to write up a fun tutorial for this cute little garland to share with us. I love the concept of her site, all of her projects cost $10 or less. How’s that for affordable?! I often hear people say that they just don’t have the cash to take up a hobby like crafting, well that excuse is no longer valid. I hope you enjoy this fun idea, and for more great ideas, head on over to Dollar Store Crafts.

Quick and Easy Tag Garland
By Heather Mann, DollarStoreCrafts.com (http://dollarstorecrafts.com)

taggarland01

Here’s a quick, cheap and festive garland you can make for about a dollar. Kids as young as three can help make this, and it will make a great decoration for their rooms, a Christmas tree, or just hanging up in a room to make it feel festive.

For quick crafting and simplicity, I bought a sheet of gift tags at the dollar store, but you can also make your own tags with pretty paper, card stock, stickers, and a hole punch. taggarland02

Time needed:
About 15 minutes

Project Materials:
*Pre-printed gift tags
*Yarn or ribbon
*Paperclips

taggarland02b

To make:

Punch out pre-printed tags (if needed).

taggarland03

Un-bend long side of paperclip, slightly, to make a hook. Slip onto tag.

taggarland04

Hang hook-tag from yarn or ribbon, and bend back to secure hook.

Hang up, and you’re done!

Visit me at Dollar Store Crafts (http://dollarstorecrafts.com) for more great inexpensive crafting ideas.

Tags: Crafts with Kids, Garland, Inexpensive Crafts, Tutorial

{frolic!} Tea Cup Flower Arrangements

December 4, 2009 in Blog Feature, Floral Arrangements, Tutorial | No comments

cfussphoto

I came across this blog written by Chelsea Fuss, and I just fell in love! Her blog features a stunning combination of vintage charm and sheer whimsy. I can’t get enough of the light and airy feeling it boasts. It makes me want to live in her photos.

Chelsea is a prop stylist and floral designer. She lives in Portland Oregon and recently returned from an extended trip to Sweden. She is kind enough to regularly update her blog with not only her fantastical creations, she also posts about things that inspire her. In fact, I think that just might explain her blog quite accurately {inspiring}.

Chelsea has been kind enough to allow me to feature a tutorial she wrote for project wedding for these gorgeous tea cup flower arrangements. I know you’ll enjoy it, even her scissors are inspiring. I would love to encourage you to take a whimsical journey over to Chelsea’s blog {frolic!} and lose yourself in inspiration!

Tea Cup Flower Arrangements

Tea Cup Flower Arrangements article photo Flowers

These darling, candy-striped flower arrangements could be used as favors for a bridal shower or at a bridesmaid’s luncheon. We filled vintage teacups with yellow and pink roses and then placed a cheery flag in each arrangement! The best part is that the tea cups can be used forever after the flowers fade away.

You will need:

-Old tea cups (we found ours at a thrift store for less than $5)

-2 small roses, 1 large rose, 1 dahlia bud, 1 stem of sedum per arrangement

-Cardstock

-Calligraphy pen

-Long toothpicks

Instructions:

1. Fill tea cups with cold water.

2. Cut stems of roses about 1 inch short and placed them in the teacup.

3. Fill in the space between the roses with sedum and then added a dahlia bud poking up out of the side.

4. Cut a piece of cardstock about 1.5 inches wide and 8 inches long.

5. Fold the cardstock in half and cut a v in the end so it looks like a ribbon.

6. Tape a long toothpick to the inside of the flag and then wrote in a calligraphy pen on each flag.

7. Display the teacups at the entrance to your event. We chose a candy-striped cotton to echo the colors of the teacups and roses.

Tags: center pieces, Floral Arrangements, flowers, party favors, Tutorial, wedding

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