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Sunday, February 12, 2012

Heart Bunting Tutorial

As promised and just in time for Valentine's Day, here's a quick tutorial for this bunting I made.




All you need:



  • A book you can rip pages out of
  • Scrapbook paper (I used five different kinds that I found at Archiver's - the more girly, the better!)
  • Glue stick
  • String to hang the flags on (hemp or twine)
  • Scissors
  • Double sided tape

Here's a closeup of the paper I used:


All you do:

Rip the paper out of your book and trim it so it measures 5.5 in. tall by 4 in. wide. I used my Fiskars Paper Trimmer for this step and it was a breeze.


Next, fold the top of the page over .5 inches. This is where the flags will hang off the twine. Also, make a mark 1 in. from the bottom of the page in the center (see my blue star below), like this:


Use your scissors to make two diagonal cuts from the bottom corners of the pages, meeting at the mark you made earlier. When done, it should look like this:


For this next step, use a scrap piece of paper and draw a heart. I had to do this a few times to get it just right, but it's not very difficult. My problem usually is that the two halves of any heart I drew never looked the same. So, I resorted to drawing only one side, folding the paper in half, and cutting out along the line I drew to create a perfectly symmetrical heart. There is no right or wrong shape. I just played with it until I found one that I liked and that I felt fit nicely on the book pages I cut out.


Once my heart template was done, I used it to trace hearts on the back of the scrapbook paper and carefully cut them all out. I didn't really count how many I had, but I just made sure I had equal number of hearts in each paper pattern.


Next up, I glued the hearts to the center of the flags - I made about 20 flags total. It didn't take as long as I thought it would to cut all the pieces out and assemble everything together, BUT if you need something to take your mind off the task at hand, I suggest any of the movies mentioned here. :)


Once all of the flags were done, I placed a piece of double sided tape in the inside crease of the fold (on top of the page). I placed the twine along the crease and closed the fold, so the flags were glued to the twine.


I glued my flags side by side on the twine and hunt it up on my mantle.

















So simple and such an easy way to dress up the house.  This would also be really pretty as decoration for a birthday party or bridal/baby shower.


All for now!


*~ Ina

Thursday, February 9, 2012

Love is in the Air

The big day is next week. 
Are you ready?


I like to get in the Valentine's Day mood by watching some of my favorites: 

  • You've Got Mail - Love Meg Ryan and Tom Hanks together again. Also, this movie always makes me want to open my own children's books store in New York City. F-O-X.
  • How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days - I think my sister and I (may have seen this a few too many times) can recite the entire movie by heart. "You let our love fern die!"
  • One Fine Day - Two words: simply adorable. (Two more words: George Clooney.)

And if all of that wasn't girly enough, this year I resorted to decorating our fireplace mantle in pretty pinks and reds. My wonderful husband even let me leave up these pretties for our Superbowl Party. :)

I believe his direct quote was: "It's awfully girly, don't you think?"

First, here's a quick look.



Now let's dig a little deeper.

I found the window at an antique store in town last year and am always looking for different ways to display it around the house. It's one of my favorite finds because it adds so much character and is versatile too. 

The paper wreath hanging on the window was a Christmas gift from one of my friends. She (very patiently) used book pages and pretty scrapbook paper to put it together. It's so delicate and pretty - this was just the perfect spot for it.




To the left of the window is a large foam-board print of my favorite wedding picture. This simple black and white photo brings me back to that wonderful day, so naturally I used a few more wedding touches throughout this display.

Around the print I clustered together a blue glass bud vase from IKEA, an antique red lantern, a candle holder from Crate and Barrel filled with a silver bead necklace (does it get any cheaper than that??), and a ceramic red vase.




To the right of the window I have a blue Ball canning jar with a little red ribbon tied around it for color and another Crate and Barrel candle holder with yet another silver beaded necklace. Disclaimer: I did not earn these necklaces - they are from my mother-in-law. Don't ask! :) And that bright red peeking out from behind the glass jar? It's one my favorite Christmas candle holders. It's red, so why not use it?

I found the blue frame at TJ Maxx months ago and have been itching to use it, but couldn't quite figure out where to put it or what to put in it. I love its size and shape, and the look of the scuffed paint. It fits a 5 x 7 picture, but I decided to display our wedding invite instead.

Next to the frame is another red vase and a canvas print my sister made for us for Christmas.




Here's another closer look.




I have the photo displayed on a plate holder so that I could angle it in the direction I want. This wedding day picture was taken in the vineyard and I love how it turned out. Did I mention, my sister DIY'ed it?? It turned out awesome! (I love the blackened edges.)

So there you have it. 

And here's another shot of the finished project.




I had a blast putting this together, and I love that I was able to find and use things I already had around the house. Improvising was key and coming up with different ways to use pieces really paid off.

Hope you enjoyed it.

Oh, whoops! Did I forget to mention a little something? :)




Tutorial coming up in the next post!

All for now,


*~Ina

Tuesday, February 7, 2012

Pillow Talk

Last weekend I finally did it!
I busted out my sewing machine and got to work.
I followed this easy step by step tutorial that Sallie posted on her blog Texas Cottage.


Here is what I came up with:



I picked up a couple yards of fabric at JoAnn's and a 16 in. x 12 in. pillow form. I cut the fabric 12 in. in one direction and 36 in. in the other direction. You can easily figure out how to cut your fabric by multiplying the length of the long side of your pillow form (16 in.) by 2, for the front and back pieces, and adding 4 in. for overlap and seam allowance. 




Next step is to hem the short sides. Lay the fabric with the right side down and a short side closest to you. Measure a 1/4 in. hem on each short side and iron the hems flat. On one of the sides, hem another 1/2 in., pin it and iron again.





Just keep in mind that this side will show on the back of your pillow - so I tried to keep a steady straight stitch. Sew both hems.




Once you are done with the two hems, lay the fabric with the right side up and the long side towards you. Fold the side with the 1/2 in. hem over a little more than half way. Then fold the other side over so that it overlaps the first side you folded. 

As I was doing this, I triple checked to make sure that the fabric measured the same as my pillow (from fold to fold). You can make the pillow cover a little longer, but I wanted it look "full" once it was completed and the pillow form was inserted. 
Pin each long side and sew 1/2 in. seam allowance. When you're done sewing, trim the seam allowance at each corner so the pillow corners will be "pointy." (Yes, that is a technical term.) Carefully insert the pillow form.



Here is a side view of the stitching on the finished pillow.

And here it is! My very first completed sewing project.
This tutorial was so easy and simple to do - I was sure I was going to mess something up. But it was all smooth sewing (re.: smooth sailing). No knots in the thread. No broken needles. Just a pretty pretty pillow.




I can't wait to find other fun fabrics to use and arrange a miss-mash of pillows on the couches.

Also, I'd love to make a few covers for some decorative euro pillows for our bed and a super-girly cover for Skya's doggie bed.


All for now!



*~ Ina