A Taggie for Willow

When my sister asked me to make her a taggie for Willow, I had absolutely no idea what she was talking about and agreed before I even knew it was a blanket.  I was excited to get to sew something for my niece though because when she's 30, she's still going to have this baby blanket and say "Oh yeah, My Aunt Jo made that for me."  That's my plan...  Obviously that's not my only reason but it's still a good one.

This is a taggie and my finished project:

Supplies:

- Material (typically one side is cotton and the other is minky or fleece).  Depending on the desired size of the taggie, you may need 1/2 yard of each fabric or 1 yard of each.

- Ribbon (different textures, sizes, and patterns)
- Thread
- Sewing Machine
- Scissors
- Pins

Step 1:

Cut the material to the desired size.  Most taggies are 15" x 15" but Michelle wanted a larger one so this is about 30" x 30" (you can also make it a rectangle as opposed to a square).

Step 2:

Cut about 20 strips of ribbon approximately 5 in" long.

Step 3:

This is where it starts to get a little tricky...  Lay the fabric down with the "right side" up.  Then loop the ribbon in half and pin it between the two pieces of fabric with the raw edges matching. Make sure the loop is inside the fabric and that the "right sides" of the fabric are touching each other.  The "wrong sides" of the fabric should be facing out.  Secure everything with a pin.

Step 4:

Sew along the edge of the blanket all around, leaving a hole about 2-3 in wide to turn it inside out. However, make sure not to run the sewing machine over the pin needles - take those out as you sew.  It is also better to leave the hole in the middle of one of the edges as opposed to being in a corner.  Then clip the corners so it can turn inside out a little easier.

Step 5:

Turn the taggie inside out! This is the fun part where you start to feel a sense of accomplishment - like it's all going to work out.  I like to iron the fabric at this point so it is easier to top stitch and it makes the corners a little crisper.

Step 6:

Top stitch all around the edge of the taggie, making sure that the hole is sewed up and giving it a nice, clean look - this also makes the blanket more durable.  Then you're done!  Congratulate yourself and show off your hard work.

I think Willow is going to love it.  

Go Clemson!

Tree Topper

Anna and I got a Christmas tree last week and unpacked all of our Christmas decorations - but we didn't have a good tree topper.  I looked up some options on Pinterest and found this star that I really wanted to make.

Materials:

1. 12x12 glitter paper (or whatever paper you want to use) - If it is front/back, you only need 1 sheet; otherwise, you'll need 2.

2.  Glue Gun and glue sticks

3.  Paper cutter (or scissors)

Directions:

1. Cut the paper(s) into 20 1/2 in. strips. (I had 2 pieces of paper that weren't front and back so I cut 40 strips and then glued the strips together with a glue gun to make them front and back).

2. Find the center of 2 of the strips and mark it.  Then glue those together in the center, forming 90 degree angles:

3.  Glue 2 strips on each side of the center lines (8 in all) in a weaving pattern like so:

4.  Then take the two outside pieces of one of the corners and fold them over to make a loop - and then glue.  Do that to all 4 corners.  Then do that with the next outside pieces.  You should end up with two loops in each corner and the middle strips still sticking out straight.

    

5.  Then do it all again to make a 2nd 4 corner star - just like the first one.

6.  Place one star on top of the other to create a 8 pointed star.

7.  Take the straight strips and put them inside of the 2 loops on the other star and then glue - this will hold them together and make it look more uniform.

After you do that to all 8 points on the star, you'll all done!  Warning: When I was finished, there was some glitter on my clothes, on my face, on the desk, the ground, and yes, even on the cat.  It's definitely not as messy as glitter can be but it does rub off the paper and onto other things.

Our tree looks so much better!

Embracing Fall

I'm a summer girl so it is tough to accept the seasonal change when it starts getting dark before I get off work and I have to put away my flip flops for a little while.  Arts and crafts have always been therapeutic for me so what better way to embrace the fall season than to do a little craftiness and have it displayed in our house?

Supplies:

• 3 canvases
• Paint (spray paint or liquid paint with paintbrush)
• Toilet paper roll(s)
• Colored paper
• Sticks / branches (I gathered some from the yard)
• Glue

Step 1:

Paint the canvases whatever color you would like.  I don't have a picture of this because I actually had 3 painted canvases just lying around, waiting for something to be done with them.

Step 2:

Smash the toilet paper roll so it more so resembles the shape of a leaf and cut into strips.  Glue them onto the colored paper - a hot glue gun works best but you can also use Elmer's or whatever is available.  Once the glue has dried, cut the leaves out of the paper 

Step 3:

Arrange the branch, sticks, and leaves on the canvas until you are satisfied with it and just glue everything down!  (Again, I used a hot glue gun).

And you're done!  This was a super easy but fun project for a Saturday afternoon.  I really enjoy recycling or re-using materials.  Sticks, toilet paper rolls, and scrap paper turned into art.  Awesome.

I think Charlie likes it...

Herringbone Canvas Art

                                                                                                                        If you are addicted to Pinterest like I am, I'm sure you've seen the beautiful Herringbone Wall Art that looks like this...  and thought "Is that really even possible?!"  After studying the links to this "pin", I soon discovered that it is a print and not an actual painting or DIY masterpiece at all - a tad discouraging...  I kept coming back to it though and couldn't resist the urge to try.

I knew I couldn't make something that would look exactly like that - but even if I could, that wouldn't be very fun or exciting, huh?  That's what I thought.  So for my first step, I decided where in the house I wanted to hang it, chose some colors based on that room, and decided to dive in.  Here is my finished product:

Supplies:

- Canvas
- Various colors of paint
- Painter's tape
- Paintbrush(es)
- Palette (or something to squirt paint on)
- Scissors

Step 1:

Paint the canvas however you'd like of different colors.  I painted mine very randomly and crazy looking but I ended up not liking it - so I painted over it (that's a great thing about paint!).  I love shapes and decided I would be much happier with it if there was some order.  I painted the whole thing brown as a base color and then painted different square and rectangular shapes over it with various colors and in multiple layers.  This is what took the most time honestly because I had to do multiple coats and wait for each color to dry before I did the next one.

I also researched some other DIY bloggers - through Pinterest - to see how different people painted their base.  Here are some examples...

 

                    

Most people end up doing crazy, random paintings, but again, I didn't do it very well when I tried.



Step 2:

Apply the tape in your desired pattern.  Instead of measuring out each piece of tape (I wanted each piece of tape to be the exact same size so I would be happier with it), I came up with an ingenious idea. I took the tape roll and marked 2 marks across from each other.  Then I cut off pieces of tape at those marks.

               

 

It doesn't matter where you put the first piece of tape - it all works out in the end - but try to put it at a 45 degree angle if that is the look you are going for.  Then just keep adding pieces of tape, following the pattern.  You don't have to measure it; just eyeball it for accuracy.  And if you don't like it, you can take it off and try again.  Some of my pieces of tape ended up being a little too short or too long - you can tell if the edges start not matching up.  I either had to cut or add to some of the strips as I went.  You can also pick out different strips to take off at the end in whatever pattern you wish. I took off 12 pieces of tape before doing the next step.

                   

Step 3:

Paint the whole thing whatever color you want.  I chose white and I had to do it in multiple coats.  Spray painting is another option but make sure the tape is secure before you paint.  Before I painted, I ran my hands over each piece of tape to make sure it was stuck to the canvas.  I also flipped it upside down and put books on it as weight to secure the tape even more.  A piece of tape moving at this point is incredibly frustrating and I'd rather be extra cautious than have the possibility of getting mad and chucking the whole thing.

Step 4:

Fun part!!!!  Once it is completely dry, remove the tape!  Refrain from taking the tape off too early. Patience is important.  I was having a hard time taking the tape off with my nails so I got out some tweezers and that made the process much faster.

Anna and I had a huge empty wall to fill in our living room and I love this new addition.