Fabric Flower Headband

{little gift for a girl in less than 30 min}

When I saw a beautiful head band at a lovely blog called Duni’s Studio I immediately knew what to make for a cute girl who just turned six, and who definitely doesn’t like princesses…I made a different version but the other headband is definitely worth a look..

I love this fabric flower, it is so easy to make and it involves only a bit of hand sewing and than sewing or gluing a button on top to finish it off. Here is how I made it.

 

You’ll need:

Cotton fabric

Thread and needle

Buttons

Plastic headband

Glue gun

Measure 2,5cm from the end of the fabric, make a little snip with the scissors and just tear a long trip from the fabric. Don’t worry about the fraying fabric, it looks actually quite nice.

Now you’ll need to measure and cut 5 little squares for the petals. My ones are 7cm x 7cm, but you can also make them bigger (or smaller for a hair clip).

 To make the flower, start with one of the squares, fold it in half and loosely baste the two short sides, as shown on the photo. When the first petal is ready continue with the remaining petals. Once you have all five petals sewn together just pull the thread to make the flower shape and make a few stitches to secure the flower.

 

Now its time to use the glue gun. Glue a nice button to the front of the flower. You can also sew the button, but I find it better to glue it.

Apply a little bit of hot glue to one end of the headband and wrap the long fabric strip diagonally. Tuck the ends in as nicely as possible.

 Now glue the flower to one side of the headband and you are done.

 

Hope you are all having a nice week!

Love,
Irina

P.S. Please see my Linky Party Fun page to see the parties that I link to.

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Sunglasses Case

{ summer was here this week...can't wait for it to be back}

I have one last Easter project to complete but while I am putting the idea together I decided to share a cute sunglasses case. I originally made this case last year, but would like to show the tutorial for those of you who were not reading my blog than.

It is so easy to make and I am sure it took only an hour to finish the whole project. So if you fancy making your own sunglasses case for the forthcoming summer than here is a quick tutorial and some instructions of how to do it.

You will need:

2 pieces of fabric – for the inside and the outside

2 pieces of scraps – for the sunglasses frame and the lenses

Vliesofix – to attach the appliqué

A piece of wadding/ batting or an old blanket

 

Depending on your glasses decide how big you’d like to have your case and cut your fabric accordingly.

Draw or download from the internet the shape of the sunglasses you’ll use for the appliqué. I used a pair of Little Big Daughter’s sunglasses and the small size was just perfect.

Iron the appliqué into the middle of your outside fabric piece.

Pin the fabric to the wadding / batting and than stitch the appliqué.

Fold the outside piece inside out and stitch along the long side and the bottom short side.Turn to the front.

Now the inside part – fold the inside part inside out and stitch the long side. You need to have opening on both short sides.

Place the inside piece on top of the outside piece – front tides facing and stitch the top short side.

Look at the last photo your case should look like that. Now stitch the remaining short side from the inside piece of fabric and put it inside the case.

Ready!

 

Wishing you a lovely weekend!

Love

Irina xx

P.S. Please see my Linky Party Fun page to see the parties that I link to.

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Happy Valentine's Day

{ quick and easy candle holder}

I didn’t manage to resist to all the Valentine’s creativity out there so today I had 20min to spare and I wanted to make something quick. I had this jar on my kitchen shelf with a candle inside and I decided to transform it into something prettier...so here it is - a Red and Pink Valentine Candle Holder.

Here is what you'll need

Step-by-step:

1. Cut a piece of the lacy part of the doily and leave it on the side…it is up to you how much of your jar you’d like covered.

2. The technique I used is called decoupage and it is very simple. Begin by applying one layer of glue around the body of your glass jar. Be as quick as you can as the glue dries fairly fast. Do not worry if it looks white or you feel you might have applied too much – the glue will become transparent once it is dry.

3. Gently apply the doily over the glued jar and start applying a second layer of glue over the doily, making sure you smooth down bubbles and dry bits.

4. Once this was done, I used a towel dipped in warm mater and carefully wiped/ rubbed off any glue that was visible outside the doily covered part.

5. At this point I lit the candle and placed it inside the jar – that really helped with the drying process. The glue  dried within 5 min. Warning – the jar became hot. Make sure you handle the jar at the very bottom part.

6. In the mean switch on your glue gun and prepare the ribbons. 

Start by wrapping up the ribbons, one by one around the neck of the jar, making sure they overlap nicely. Secure in place with a drop of hot glue.  Trim the length of the ribbon. Lastly add a drop of hot glue and attach the heart.

 

 

20 min later there is a pretty little candle in my kitchen and my creativity urge has been completely satisfied.

Hope you have a Valentine’s Day full of LOVE!

Love,

Irina

Linkin this post to
Tip me Tuesday at Tip Junkie 
Handmade Tuesdays at Ladybug Blessings 
Take-A-Look Tuesday at Sugar Bee Crafts 
Topsy Turvy Tuesdays at I'm Topsy Turvy

Playmais miniature pumpkins

{ a rainy day activity}

We recently bought some playmais in preparation for less warm days and more days spent indoors with a slightly bored three and a half year old.

If you have playmais at home you can help your little one make some mini pumpkins for decoration or garlands for Halloween.

To make one pumpkin you’ll need three orange, three peach and one brown playmais pieces.

Squash each of the orange and peach coloured pieces on once side only. Wet on of the sides and stick together to make the pumpkin.  Roll the brown piece between your fingers until it becomes half size in length and width. Wet and stick on top of the pumpkin.

 Love,

Irina xx

Home Made Craft Labels

{ or labels on a budget, or in the last minute}

I would like to share with you a great idea for DIY labels that I found many months ago. It is so creative and clever that I wish it was mine, but I actually saw it here, at the lovely blog Patchwork and Pottery.

You’ll need the following:

T-shirt transfer kit

Twill tape

Printer

Exacto knife and board (this one is optional)

Scissors

Iron

 

I used the Avery T-shirt transfer pack, and I bought the one for white t-shirts, as my labels are white. I know that they have a kit for dark t-shirts. I am sure you can buy a cheaper version. I bough mine on Amazon.

Yes, you will need to reverse your image, so when you iron it, it will show from the right side!

Here are the steps you’ll need to follow:

I have undated the instructions since I first published this post as many people e-mailed me with questions:

Download the free software Avery Design Pro 5.

Link for PC here.

Link for MAC here.

Open the software and select the blank page just below File. From the list of templates choose the number of your product - T-shirt transfer. If you are not using Avery, than look for C9045. And from there on it is like using a word document.

Remember to leave spacing and also make sure that the height of your labels is smaller than the width of your ribbon or twill tape.

The good thing about the Avery Design Pro Software is that you don't have to worry about reversing your image. It will know that automatically because you have selected the T-shirt transfer template. Clink of Print Preview to check this. Do print out a couple of test pages. Once you are happy with the colour or the spacing than print it on the transfer paper from your T-shirt transfer kit.

Another tip is to check the settings of your printer. Many modern printers have the “Reverse image " option in the printer settings. If you have this option, than you can use a Word document to create your labels and use the printer settings to reverse the image before printing.

After you have printed your labels on the transfer paper use an exacto knife a board and a ruler to cut strips of your labels. If you do not have an exacto knife, than you can use paper scissors.

Once you have cut out your strips, you’ll need to iron them on the twill tape. At this point you will have to follow the description of your T-shirt transfer kit – but basically use hot iron, no steam and leave the labels to cool off completely before peeling off. A tip from me - try to press your labels, it works better than ironing.

 

When completely cool, peel off the paper and cut your desired labels. Ready – your very own, hand made labels in less than an hour!

 

 

 

 What I love about this way of making labels is the variety - you can choose any colour of twill tape, use colourful writing, personalize your labels or even have little images like flower or butterfly. Or you can make a continuous label tape.

And while I was waiting for the  labels to cool down, I made this absolutely delicious Italian herbs and parmesan bread. OK it took more than 5 min, but the bread is very quick and easy to make. I found the recipe here. I also cheated and used a packet of brown bread mix and the flavour is still amazing.

Have a lovely weekend!

Love

Irina xx

Ship Ahoi

{ Fabric boat for a budding captain - in no time}

I made these little fabric boats for the fair last weekend. They are absolutely easy to make and you can make one in less than an hour. I think they make a perfect gift for a little boy, and can be attached to the buggy with a plastic link, used as a mini cushion or as a rassel if you decide to put a bell inside.You can use up those little pieces of fabric which are two big to throw away, but too small to use in a bigger project.

And here is a quick tutorial of how to make a fabric boat for the little man in your house, or whip up one quickly as a last minute gift.

Start by preparing your pattern. Here is how mine looked like, but you could make it bigger or smaller . My boat is about 25cm high. Use cardboard, it is easier to draw around on the fabric. ( And NO, i have not used my precious Fiscars to cut the cardboard, they just somehow made it on the picture).

You will need five different fabrics and three or four pieces of ribbon. Cut your fabric according to your pattern and press. NOTE: make sure you apply the pattern corectly so that you get two left sails and two right sails. The first time I got 4 left sails.

 

Machine stitch each pair of sails together.

You should now have two triangles for the sails of each side. Press the seams open.

 

With right sides facing each other, pin the bottom part of the boat to the sails and machine stitch. Press and it should look like photo 5.

With right sides together, pin and machine stitch.  Do not forget to add your ribbons. See photo 7. Your boat should look like this. Now you are ready to sew.

Start sewing the boat at the bottom. Make sure you leave an opening big enough to turn the ready boat inside out and to fill it in with toy stuffing.

 Fertig ( german for ready), your boat is ready; now you just need to turn it inside out out and press it.

Stuff the boat with toy stuffing and slip stitch the opening. Now you are ready to watch the eyes of that budding captain light up with delight when presented with this little boat.

If you make this project than do come back and post a link in the comments as I would love to see it.

In the next few days I'll have a similar tutorial for a little girl.

Love,

Irina xx

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