Modern Art Canvas - KK

OK, it's time for my tutorial! (Bet you didn't think I'd get this up this fast.)

I decided I wanted some new art to hang in my new apartment and luckily I had a few blank canvas in my craft supply that I could paint. I knew I wanted something graphic and modern, so off to Pinterest I went.

What I found was this piece from the blog younghouselove.com.

I decided this design would work for me. It was colorful, not too distracting, but still had enough interesting details. 

I headed to Home Depot to get paint (and a few small items I needed.) Thank you to Christianne for telling me a few projects ago that you can get a little sample of any paint color for $2-3. This will last a WHILE! 

I decided I wanted to incorporate some yellows and grays and found three colors I liked. After running a few other errands, I went back to my basement and set to work following the instructions on the tutorial. 

First, I used a pencil and straight edge to mark off the columns.

Then I used the corner of a 3x5 card to randomly section off the lines and create the pattern. I used both inverted and ... what is the opposite of inverted?? ... angles to add more variety. 

I started painting and decided I should probably decide what color would go where. So I put a dash of color in each section. And this kinda turned into a color by number project. Except there were no numbers. 

For the first round of painting, I didn't focus too much on the lines and being precise. 

I missed pictures of a few steps here, but after my first color (light grey) dried, I used painters tape to cover any overlapping sections of colors 1 and 2. I then painted and let dry.

After THAT paint dried, I removed the painter's tape and reapplied (yes, I reuse tape. I'm that cheap.) where the 3rd color would overlap with the others. 

I could have been a lot more precise with this process. (I watched two movies while I worked on it...while doing a few other things and waiting for paint to dry.) But I wanted to move things as quickly as possible and undoubtedly cut a few corners. 

A look at my setup while waiting for the final layer to dry. 

I wanted to have a bigger piece so I actually used two separate canvases and designed them to hang side by side. I would have gone even bigger if I had the materials on hand. Here's one finished and another in the works. I could have done them at the same time, but I wanted to make sure the process worked on Canvas #1 first.

I also used the yellow paint to cover the canvases on the sides. These were previously painted black with lovely swirls some say resembled DNA. :P Here's what they look like on the wall. The lighting is horrible.

Some tips and thoughts:

I used a mechanical pencil for my lines, but it ended up kinda dark, and I had a hard time covering the lead. I would think a soft pencil that was lighter would work better.

I think it would look cool with thicker columns. Mine are just less than an inch because that's the width of the stick I used to measure. I'd love to see it done with 2 to 2.5-inch rows. Plus that means less work!

Again, I would have loved to go even bigger with the canvas size!

Love Note Pillow

Here's a fun pillow for a gift, or for yourself! The idea is to insert a love note and leave it on the bed on someone you love. Then pass it around the house - easy way to share the love!


I made it to use as a gift at a Valentines themed game night, but might not be going now so it may be mine! I don't have pictures of everything because the idea kept changing as I realized I didn't know how to do what I wanted... But hopefully it's enough to get the idea.

For materials, I bought 1/4 yard of each fabric, and I still have enough left to make another pillow. (I used the same fabric for the back and the pocket)

*Two squares 9"x11"
*Extra fabric for the pocket
*18" of pom pom trim
*A heart pattern (mine was abt 6" wide and 5.5" tall)
*Fiberfill
Start on the front panel first.
For the pocket, you'll want two "copies" so fold the fabric over (not pictured) and trace around the pattern on the wrong side.

So you have: (ignore the ribbon)
This is the part I kept changing and there's probably better options, but to do what I did:
Place right sides together, sew around the edges (leave an opening), clip edges and the "v" & flip. I then top stitched around it and closed the opening.

Then to sew it to the front panel I sewed over the topstitch line, but don't forget to leave an opening for your note! I inserted this card so you could see where my opening was. I sewed just to the top of each hump so they wouldn't flop over.


With that done, you're ready to sew the trim on and the pillow together. This part I was horrible at, so if you've never done pom pom trim before, I'd read these instructions first (scroll to the trim/sewing instructions). But remember we're just putting the trim on two edges. It's clearer and if I had followed those, I probably wouldn't have felt so incompetent.

So use a basting stitch (and a zipper foot if possible) to sew the trim on one edge first, and then layer it like this. The corner balls kept getting in my way, but the goal is to sew around with a 1/2" seam allowance. (Mine had to be less to catch the edge of the trim.)
Leave four inches or so open on the bottom edge to flip and stuff.
So you end up with this! You can see how my pocket is not really straight, but it makes it qwerky, right?
Then stuff it, and close the opening with a slip stitch. Follow the link for a tutorial. I always forget how to do it...

Now just add a note and give it to your Valentine!

Hearts garland tutorial

Today I wanted to show you how to make a heart garland.  I made up this pattern kindof based on the one I featured on Tuesday but I wanted to make a bunch and link them together.  This is what I ended up with:

Sorry this picture is so dark - it is really cloudy and cold today. 

Here are some closer ones to give you an idea.  Since I made up this pattern I learned a few things and mine didn't turn out perfect but I like the result.  The first thing is the ribbon between have to be short or they twist and turn.  Some of mine were too long so I had to really work to get them to all face forward in the pictures. 

Here is what I did it is pretty easy:

1) I cut two heart shapes out of computer paper

2) I sewed a bunch of cuts of fabric together to get the pieced look but you could just do solid fabrics

3) I traced the heart shapes onto my fabric square (the ones I pieced together)

4) I also traced them onto scrap fabric for the backs

5) I cut them out 1/4 outside of the outline - I cut 4 big and 6 little

6)I sewed a front to a back on the line with right sides together with ONE ribbon on one side leaving the other side open for turning and stuffing

7) turn right side out

8) stuff with fiberfill

9)handsew the opening with the second ribbon in it closed.

10) tie hearts together

note: for the hearts at the beginning and end I sewed the ribbon on the top instead of the side. If you look at the picture you will see what I am talking about.

Done! 

Boppy Part 2 (Flap Details) & Nursing Cover

This is a continuation of my post Boppy Pillow, with more details on how to use this existing tutorial and adapt it for a flap. I don't have pictures of everything, but luckily took a few that will hopefully explain more clearly.

First, print out and tape together this pattern as instructed.

Now, you want to make a longer pattern to replace the "top zipper portion." You just want it to be a little bit longer so it will overlap with the "bottom zipper portion" several inches.

To make a new pattern take your front pattern piece and line up a piece of paper along the right straight edge. Then trace the outside (left) edge down further. I'd extend it at least an additional 5 inches. This will make your new top piece about 9 inches long on the right size.

So, when you cut out your fabric, instead of your little top piece (pictured) you'll have something like this:
Your 3 pieces:
Then you want to hem the 2 straight edges of your back pieces (where the pocket will open). I folded it over twice so it would leave a clean edge and sewed straight across, probably about 1/2 inch total. Sorry, don't have a pic of this, but look at the last pic in this post to see it completed.

Then line up your front and back pieces right sides together. You'll layer the back 2 pieces, with the larger one on top. You'll have the full piece (my brown spotted one) underneath so you'll be able to make the back pieces line up to the same size as the front. Should look like this with all 3 pinned together. Hope that makes sense...(it keeps flipping this...sorry)

Then just sew about 1/2 inch seam around the outside. Shove in your pillow and you're done!

Here's how mine is when completed. Yours should have more overlap is you use these instructions. Mine is a little shorter since that's all the fabric I had left.
It reminds me of those little bum-flap pajamas and makes me giggle. Fun times.

While we're on the baby page, I wanted to share a great tutorial from Sew Much Ado for a nursing cover. I've made 2 from this tutorial and I love it. So easy and great instructions. Here's the two I made :) Aren't they cute?


*I'm attaching a comment I left below for everyone's reference

I used the Absolutely Cotton fabrics at Hancocks (so not home decor weight). I gave away the pink one and she says it works great - not see-through or anything. I've haven't yet used one for real, but I didn't see a need to use heavier fabric so I didn't :)

As for cost, the supplies are really cheap. My fabric was usually 6.99 a yard I think, but I got it 40% off (that's like $5 for 1.25 yds). The D-rings were about $2 for 2 pairs. The boning is sold by the yard and was about 20 cents. :) (Kinda hard to find, but usually in a box around the notions wall)

So what's that... about $7?
Not bad eh? (and you're left with an extra set of D-rings to make another one!) Plus, you could probably finish this in an hour if you're focused. Sewing the boning in is the only hard/annoying part.

I actually bought one from UdderCovers to see what theirs were like when they were offering one free- just pay shipping. Shipping alone was $8.95, and they're way smaller. Does it even compare? :)

Till next time,

Boppy Pillow

So I'm trying to scratch a few of the things off my craft to-do list. Awhile ago I started browsing craft blogs and found so many baby-type things that I wanted to try. At the time I had many months before baby, but now that it's getting closer I may just have to slim my list down a bit.

This one I started forever ago, so I figured I should at least finish it. My way-cheaper Boppy pillow (and cover)! I found this tutorial at Vanilla Joy which was just for the cover, but I figured I could adapt it to make the pillow itself too. You can just print the pattern from the site and tape it together. For the pillow I just cut 2 of the front pattern, sewed them together and stuffed with fiberfill. I put about 1.5 16oz bags in it so it was nice and full. I used mulsin because it was cheap and I was going to cover it. This is it naked:



This is the back of mine. The pattern is for a zipper but I couldn't find the right size so I just extended the top piece about 4 inches and turned it into a pocket that overlaps. I lined it up with the front pattern to get the angle to extend it. I may add velcro or buttons to keep it closed because its a little looser than I wanted.
*You can see on my picture where the seam was supposed to be because I already cut it out before I decided not to do the zipper. I just attached it to another piece of fabric first.
Anyway, it's done! Check.

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If you're in need of homecrafted baby items for yourself or for gifts, here's a few off my list that I thought would be fun:

Hooded Towel
http://makeitandloveit.blogspot.com/2009/07/bear-hooded-towel.html

Pacifier clip
http://angieasplund.blogspot.com/2009/01/soother-pacifier-clip-tutorial.html

RicRac Receiving Blanket
http://sewmuchado.blogspot.com/2009/05/ric-rac-receiving-blanket-tutorial.html

Cloth Building Blocks
http://amingledyarn.wordpress.com/2009/06/23/sewing-fo-building-blocks/

Happy Stacker
http://www.heatherbaileystore.com/product-p/sp003-hs.htm

Diaper case
http://makeitandloveit.blogspot.com/2009/03/diaperwipes-case.html

Changing Pad & Wipes Holder
http://www.cluckclucksew.com/2009/02/changing-pad-and-wipes-holder-tutorial.html

With Love,

Placemat Tote

I've got a great easy (possible gift...) craft for you today. The older brothers of the kids I watch have them for their scriptures and seminary journal and I kept eyeing them because they looked so easy to make, yet functional. So today while I was babysitting I grabbed one and snapped a few pictures so I could recreate them.

It took me an hour to figure everything out AND make it perfectly. So, with these instructions you can snap them out like candy. Hmm, not sure where that phrase came from, but you get the idea right?



Here's what you need:
One placemat
7/8 yd Cotton Belting (Not sure if this is what it's called...it's on little bolts by the yard)
(total cost <$2) Steps:
1) Fold placemat in half, right sides together. Sew down both short sides with abt 1/2 inch seam.

2) Squish down the corner so it lays flat and measure down about 4 inches. (This makes it so you can fit something 4 inches wide inside-feel free to adjust as desired). Just lay the side seam to one side or the other. Pin so you know where to sew, and sew it straight across. Repeat on other side.
4) Cut the belting in half, each being 16" each. (Again, feel free to adjust.) Measure in abt 3 inches from each edge and pin each end in place, overlapping 1 inch.
5) Sew around them in a cool x-ish pattern so they're nice and tight. (I also flattened the inside hem and sewed a little so it lays flat, but it's totally optional.)

And you're done! Fill with books, toys, craft supplies or whatever!**if you can't get enough, go ahead and add a ribbon closure or dress it up a little by adding some trim around the top such as this:
So many options

Designing Invitations

I've spent this week making invitations for our Primary Christmas Party for the teachers. We decided to do Oscar-type awards at it so we wanted it to be classy yet fun. When we were throwing around ideas I mentioned I had made the invitations for my wedding and something similar would be fun. I brought them in and it was decided to make them the same, so that's became my job.

It's been fun, and since it was the only thing I've had time for this week, I thought I'd share with you a little of how to make them -- just in case you're ever in need :)

First of all, when I designed them for my wedding, I wanted them to be similar to these Envelopments that I had seen at a store. Here's what mine ended up looking like:

They worked great for multiple inserts since you can put them all in the pocket.
(These I made with 12x12 paper and just cut it in half. The pocket is 3" and the others are each 4.5". ) I printed the address info directly on my envelopes in a font I liked and added an image in the corner to add some fun.

For the Primary one, the President had a bunch of 8.5"x11" paper so I adapted it to fit that.
This is how I measured it out: (click on picture to see the measurements)
*I cut the width to 6" (So the paper becomes 6"x8.5")
Then the pocket will be 2.5" and the others are 4.25" each.
*First make a template for the pocket by measuring 3" (half the width) in and 1" up and connecting that point to each corner. I then traced that on each piece, but don't cut it until after you score it, or it's harder to measure.
*Then score the lines on each section. I used a scoring blade on my paper cutter. That's the easiest to get them straight, but you can also use a bone folder.
*After you score it, cut out the pocket insert.
*To glue the pocket shut, the easiest thing to use is tacky tape. You do have to spend the time pulling the backing off, but it stays shut and doesn't get excess glue all over. Just make sure to leave a big enough slot to get your insert in.
(For this size, my insert is 5.5" x 4" )
*The image on the top should be about 3"x5". (I really had to look around to get the ones printed for the wedding announcements --I think it was winkflash.com, but it doesn't look like they do that size anymore) You could do in on photo paper yourself if you wanted. For these I just made an image myself and am printing it on cardstock.

Since I'm handing these out at church we decided not to use envelopes, so I just did this:
I cut the tags from cardstock (1"x2"), rounded the corners and punched a hole, and will tie them on a ribbon.
I still have to get the inside inserts printed and stuffed, but I'll add a picture when I'm done.

They are a little bit time-consuming, but I think it's fun and rewarding to see them when you did it all yourself :)