Wedding DIY: Tissue Paper Poms

To add a little pizazz to the centerpieces for Cassandra's wedding, we decided to make some tissue paper poms. We also broke off some branches from a few dead trees! HA.

For this project, we bought 2 packs of silver tissue paper (five sheets in each pack) & had enough to make 20 mini poms! The white tissue my mom had on hand, so bonus! We used white, ivory, and silver.

To make the flowers, we used this as a guide: via Martha Stewart

Materials: tissue paper, scissors & string

Then cut the edges round or pointed. Peel the layers toward the middle one at a time and fluff. In the meantime, ...

Instagrams printed via Foxgram (SO affordable!). Brent put some muscle into the wine corks & made them into little holders for the pictures & the guest names!

The poms look so fun!

& with that said, this blog may be inundated with wedding DIY fun until then! YAY! FINAL COUNTDOWN!

Scrap-buster Fabric Canvas Art: DIY

I got this inspiration after a trip to Fancy Tiger and saw some canvases hanging on the wall with fabric scraps as the main focal point. Seeing as how I have loads of fabric scraps, this was the perfect project.

Here's the how-to:

12 x 15.5 canvas, fabric scraps, scissors, fine point Sharpie, 3M spray adhesive, ruler, pencil

To start, draw diagonals. I made mine fairly small at first & decided it would look too busy, so I erased and made them a bit bigger. Ultimately, I made 40 full diamonds with five half diamonds running along the side and the top (see picture).

Next, cut out just slightly smaller diamonds from your fabric scraps. Cut a few extra in case you don't like a few after laying them out. I ended up using 40 different fabrics!

Now trace over your pencil lines with a fine tipped Sharpie. I wanted my lines to show up but not be too bold.

Now spray a thin layer of adhesive to the canvas (this stuff works so well!) And just start placing the scraps on in whatever order you like! Here's my finished project.

Wouldn't this look so great ombre? (if you had enough different fabrics of the same color) Enjoy! 

Craft Day Projects: Stuffed Birdies

Crafting is obviously very cathartic to me & being creative with a friend is so much fun. That's why at least twice a year Chelsea & I get together and craft for hours together. This time we tackled some stuffed birds & two random other projects: leaf garland headband & a cute coaster.

Here is the pattern we used: Mister Blue Bird.

Here is the link to the pinspiration for the headband: Leaf Garland Headband.

It feels so good to see the finished projects all lined up like that!

Tuesday Tutorial: Customized Outdoor Bench Cushions

For a birthday present for my sister's boyfriend, we made him some bench cushions. He made the benches from scrap wood, a project that didn't cost him a dime (it did cost him some sweat, though). The wood was a bit splintered and was therefore not very comfortable to sit on. Splinters + bare legs = ouch!

We made a trip to Joann's, bought some indoor/outdoor fabric (50% off, holla!), sat down on foam in the middle of the aisle, bought the schtuff (40% off!) & went to work. This project may seem like a huge undertaking, but rest assured, this will only take a few hours!

*Photo heavy post!*

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$50 x 3 benches = $150

$29 x 3 benches = $87 at least

Here's how you can make your own customized cushions for less than buying them!

Sew the side just across from the fold and along one of the bottoms. Leave one short side entirely open.

To make the fabric take on a more boxed look, using the fabric from the long sides and the bottom sewn side, fold the fabric in a triangle against the seam. 

See below or here for a more detailed explanation on this technique.

Repeat for the other corner as well.

For finishing, I turned the fabric right side out and stuffed the foam inside. With the end edges, I folded the fabric like an envelope (see below) and pinned Velcro on the inside for an invisible finish.

Pinned Velcro, ready to sew. Notice how the Velcro spans the whole cushion.

 To make sewing the Velcro easier, I pushed the foam down and out of the way.

 I used a zig-zag stitch to secure the Velcro.

It looks something like this.

 To finish, fold in like an envelope, just like you did before pinning the Velcro.

This is what mine looked like finished.

Not even cute! So, we decided to sew some ourselves.

Linking up to:

Cross 'em off the list!

Remember the list I told you about? My Denver 2012 list! Well, I've crossed a few more things off and enjoyed them all! Here are my most recent accomplishments:

In the spirit of making lists, I also made a "To Craft List 2012" so I can keep track of all the projects I want to get done. Here are some finished specimens:
A pouch for the chess pieces: (same fabric I used for this project)

A summery tote bag:

His & her passport covers. So excited to use these this weekend! El Caribe, here we come!
Many more projects to come!