Reclaiming Naptime: Patriotic Pom-poms

I've been very lucky lately and granted couple of days this past week with ALL 3 kids napping (well, Elyette was having "quiet" time) at the SAME time!!! Did I get the laundry folded or clean the bathrooms... NAH! I blew off the responsible thing and CREATED instead. And this time even you get to benefit from my hour of freedom.

I give you:

PATRIOTIC POM-POMS

Super easy, fast, and cheap... free actually(just use scraps). Now, obviously you can use any colors you want, but we made our for the 4th of July cause we thought they resembled fireworks.

Make them any size and fullness you'd like and put them on hair clips, headbands, T-shirts, flip flops, bags, ANYTHING.




Here's how to make 'em:

Materials:
-Scrap fabric (you don't need much)
-Scissors
-Thread

Yep, that's it!

Step 1: Select Fabric
You can use any old fabric that won't horribly unravel on you. I used a lightweight denim (blue), quilter's cotton and broadcloth (red), and a linen blend- from an old skirt (white). Next time I think I might try to make some from an old T-shirt.

Step 2: Cut Strips
Cut 1/2" strips on the bias* however long you can. The bias is basically on the diagonal where the there is the most stretch. This makes it so that if and when the fabric frays on the edges it will do so uniformly on either side and won't twist (we do want some fraying for interest and character).

*You can also cut strips straight on the selvage (its the side that doesn't fray much) if you want a little twisting action (but you may want to fray check the tips- the edge that isn't on the selvage if you do it this way)

Step 3: Wrapping
Once you have all your strips cut, begin wrapping them around a stable flat object (like a notecard) that is about the width you'd like you pom-pom to be. For example, I used a 5" wide tupperware lid for my largest one and 3 1/2" wide notepad for my slightly smaller ones.
If you are mixing fabrics like I did, alternate them as you warp them on. You strips of fabric are likely all different lengths and may not wrap many time. Don't worry about that. Just try to hold them all together as you wrap. You can trim it up later.

Step 4: Tie it off

After wrapping as many strips as you'd like for fullness its time to tie it up in the center. Thread a needle. At least double up the thread, I would recommend quadrupling it for more strength, or use a thicker floss. Before removing the wrapped strips, tightly wrap the thread around one side of the strip bundle in the center and tie (this will help keep it from falling apart when you pull it off). Gently slide the whole bundle off the object you wrapped it around. As tightly as you possibly can, wrap the remaining thread around the center of your bundle and tie off.

Step 5: Cut Loops
Once secured, take your scissors and cut the loops (several at a time works fine). Trim it up and even it out as much as you'd like and VIOLA, a pom-pom.

Step 6: Wet and Dry (optional)
They're cute without this step, so its up to you... First, spray the pom-pom with water to dampen it. Then throw it in the dryer (with other things if possible, so it doesn't flatten oddly). Promptly remove from dryer when done. This with fray up the edges and give a little interest to the fabric. I personally liked this "messy" look and ended up doing it to all of my pom-poms.

Attach pom poms to whatever you'd like. Enjoy!

Etched Glass Silhouettes

There are a lot etched glass tutorials out there, but I thought I'd add ours to the mix: Etched Silhouettes.

We made Christmas ornaments from beveled glass rectangles, but you could also easily do this on say a mirror, vase, candle holder, jewelery box, anything glass really. I think they make awesome gifts (FYI: V-days just around the corner!... although I think they are perfect for Mother's/Father's Day).

What you'll need:
-Glass object to etch
-X-acto knife
- Contact paper
- Etching cream
- Old paintbrush/sponge piece/Popsicle stick, etc. (to spread the cream with)
plus a pen or pencil and a camera

Step 1: Take photo
Take a picture of your subject with bright back lighting.
In a photo editing program (we used photoshop) bring up the contrast on your photo. (We did a bit more to clean it up, but its really can do fine with little to nothing... as long as you can see it well enough).


Size the photo to fit your glass object and print.

Step 2: Trace Silhouette

Place your contact paper (still intact) over your printed silhouette image and tape it down.
Using a pen or pencil trace your silhouette onto the contact paper. In order to see the silhouette you'll probably need some back-lighting. You could place it up in the window and trace, but for more precision, and it was nighttime :), I improvised by placing a glass cutting board over a desk lamp that I sat in my lap and traced out on that (WARNING: The bulb got hot and made the cutting board hot so I did periodically have to stop and let things cool).

Step 3: Cut it out
Once you're satisfied with your tracing job, position the contact paper onto your glass object. Peel the paper backing of the contact paper and carefully place it on the glass object and smooth it out well! The nice thing about glass, unless you're doing this on a mirror, that you can turn it around and check the back for bubbles.

Next, start cutting. Carefully cut around your silhouette with an X-acto knife. For small tricky spots, but sure to cut IN toward the center of the silhouette since you'll be peeling this part away anyway.
Using a pin or tip of the X-acto knife, carefully pull up the edge of the silhouette and slowly peel it away. Use the pin to get up any small pieces left behind. Hold the silhouette back and make sure it actually looks like the person your etching :).

If you are adding a name do this next using the same method as the silhouette. Since we made so many of these and the text would have been quite small, I bought custom made name stencils for $1 here, to save my self some labor and pain. If you are doing your own text, keep it simple! Curly cues, lots of serifs, etc. is just asking for trouble.
Cover as much of the glass object as you can to protect it (with tape or contact paper).
Again, double check the back for bubbles.

Step 4: ETCHING!
Once you've placed and peeled your text, covered the glass and everything looks satisfactory its time to etch! Be sure to use a well ventilated space, protect the surfaces your are working on and wear gloves.
Shake your bottle of etching cream. Slather on the etching cream using an old paintbrush, sponge, Popsicle stick or something else you don't mind trashing. Make sure you have a good thick layer covering everything. Leave the cream on for 5-10 minutes.

Now I tried a few methods of brushing it on, like, moving it all around while its etching, but I found that if I just brushed in on in one basic direction and let it sit it came out smoother (but then it could have been just my cream- it did seem rather clumpy).

Step 5: Rinse and Dry

After 5-10 minutes of etching rinse the cream off thoroughly with warm water. FYI- Don't freak out if it looks like it didn't etch at all, you won't see the etching when its wet. Pat glass dry and peel off the tape and contact paper to reveal your masterpiece!

and DONE!

Homemade for the Holidays: Monogramming

Ok, so this one is not a task that kids will likely be participating in, but I'd recommend doing it for kids! Kids love stuff "personalized". Here's a basic fabric to fabric monogramming method (someday I'd love to get a machine that embroiders, but I like the look of this too). I'm sure there are tutorials all over the internet for this, but here is how I did it.

Monogramming
Materials:

*Object you'd like to monogram- be it a tote, pillow, shirt, stocking... anything fabric can be sewn to.
Scrap of fabric for letter(s)
Heat bond iron-on adhesive
pencil/pen
scissors

*If you are making the object you are monogramming, make sure you put the letter on before finishing the object if necessary. For example, for a tote you'd want to sew the monogram on the outside fabric before sewing the lining in. If not, or if you purchased the whatever it is you are monogramming, just make sure you're okay with being able to see the stitching on the underside

Get Started:

Get the object you are monogramming ready. Make sure its clean and pressed. Decide where you'd like your monogram and how big you'd like it.

You can free hand the letter if you'd like, but if you don't trust yourself and/or have terrible handwriting, like myself, type the letter, pick a font and size and print it instead. I'm also cheap, so to save on ink select "outline" for you letter (especially if its large).
Cut a piece of the heat bond adhesive big enough to cover your letter. Turn your printed letter over so that it is inverted. With textured side down, place the adhesive over inverted letter. Trace letter onto adhesive. If you can't see the letter well enough, either trace it out on the paper first or I just put it up to the window and trace it that way. The textured side of the adhesive will attach to the wrong side of your letter fabric so that's why you want it inverted. (I'd also suggest just printing the letter already inverted)Place the adhesive with textured side to the wrong side of you letter fabric and iron on medium heat, no steam (or follow manufacturer's instructions).
Cut the letter out carefully. Then, peel off the paper backing of the adhesive.
Place the letter where you want it on your object and iron on. (don't "glide" the iron over the letter, just press down and lift and repeat until the whole letter is securely attached).
Prepare your sewing machine with coordination thread and select what type of stitch, stitch length, etc. you'd like. I'd recommend testing this out on a scrap of fabric before going at it with the letter. Stitch letter to object. - I used a small zig-zag, which was fine, but I must have been glutting for punishment by choosing a lower case "E"... all those stinkin' curves!
Clip threads and Viola! You're done.

~Merry Christmas~

Homemade for the Holidays: Wrapping Paper

We've been having some fun around here making gifts, decorations, and goodies for Christmas and thought we'd share some of the fun stuff we're doing this year. Most of it is kid-friendly, but I might just throw in some "How-To's" of a few of things I've been working on.

Up first: Wrapping Paper

My kids are still a bit too young to make a gift (without mom ending up doing most of it), but we still wanted an element of "made with love, from the kids" for some of our gifts this year. So, they decorated their own wrapping paper instead.

Really for simplicity you could just use the wrong (white) side of existing wrapping paper and give the kids some crayons and markers and have them color away, like we often do. But if you want something with little more flare and more fun for the kids, here's an idea:
Materials:

- Paint
-Christmas stamps (cookie cutters could work well too)
-Butcher paper or freezer paper
- Glitter (optional)
-a willing child or two (or more :))
-Christmas music

How we did it:

Since we are lacking in the stamp department we first made potato stamps by cutting potatoes in half (red potatoes in our case). Draw out the pattern/shape you want and cut it about 1/4 inch deep. Then carefully cut out around your pattern to form stamp. If you have time and aren't lazy like we are, allow potato to dry out. If I had them on hand, I think I would have preferred making sponges into stamps.

K, then get the kiddies ready. Smocks/grubby T's on and put on some Christmas music.
Roll out how much paper you have ambitions to decorate. If your using Freezer paper, make sure you have the waxy side down and work on the other side.
Prepare paint on paper plates. Hand off stamps to the kids and go to town. If you are really begging for a mess like we were, sprinkle glitter over the paper while paint is still wet. Shake off excess.
Clean up and allow paint to thoroughly dry (overnight) and its ready to use for wrapping.

~Merry Christmas~