Tuesday To-Do

10 Tutorials

With a newborn in the house there's not much crafting being done. I have a million and one ideas and plans, but little execution time. So in an attempt to keep this blog alive, I thought I'd post links to some of the crafting tutorials I've recently bookmarked with the intention to try at some time in the future.

Fabric organiser by Kandra
Owl Sunglass Case by Amy Cluck
Diaper Case by Jan Andrea
Fabric Bowl by Imagine Fabric
Quick and Easy Sketchbook by Susie
Shoe bags from vintage sheets by Betz White
Baby Snuggler pattern by Lotta Jansdotter at Craft Magazine
Roll-up kitchen playmat from Balancing Everything
Pleated purse pattern by Sarah
Dishtowel organiser from Crafty Beats

I hope you find something that inspires you! If you have any tutorials to share please leave alink in the comments!

My new garland

I spent a few hours yesterday and this morning making a simple garland for the tree. I used this idea from Kayte Terry (via Creature Comforts) as a starting point, then added my own twist along the way.

Supplies:

Twine
Felt
Fabric
Felt stars or other embellishments

Using the templates (which I downloaded from Creature Comforts) I cut out around 70 flower shapes from different colours of felt and punched holes in the middle

Then I strung them on the string, about 6" apart, tying knots to keep them from moving

I ripped fabric into 1" strips about 5"-6" long and tied these onto the string between the flowers.

I also added some felt stars in between. I only had 7, so I spaced them out along the length.

In total my garland is about 10 or 11 yards long, which is about right for my approximately 5' tall tree.

This is a great project to do in front of the TV!

Vintage-y Wreath

I made this on a whim a couple days, so I don't have step by step photos, but it's really very easy to make!

 
Supplies
Wreath form - the one I used is styrofoam
Fabric and lace scraps
Trim
Felt
Embroidery thread
Buttons
Needle
Batting
Old music sheets
Leaf stamp, punch or die
Ink

Instructions

Cut or tear a long strip of fabric about 3" wide and wrap around wreath. Secure ends at the back with hand stitching

Wrap a length of trim over fabric, securing at back

Use a smaller piece of lace to wrap a small portion of wreath

Make a stuffed star from felt. Instructions are here

Punch/cut out eight leaf shapes from music sheet paper. I used a leaf stamp, stamped the leaves on the back and the cut them out with scissors.
Ink edges of leaves, and fold in center of each to give dimension
Punch a circle piece of scrap cardstock.
Using a strong glue arrange leaves to form flower shape on cardstock circle
Add button to center of flower

Cut two leaf shapes from fabric, fray edges and hand stitch to lace covered portion of wreath
Stick music sheet flower over leaves

Loop star embellishment on a length of trim and use to hang wreath.

Hanging Doo-dad

I'm not sure yet what I'm going to do with this, I might make a few for the tree, or just hang them from doorknobs around the apartment.

The idea was inspired by some store displays I saw at Ikea. They used much larger ones to display the holiday ornaments throughout the store. So another idea would be to hang small ornaments from them and suspend them over open doorways.

Supplies

Thin chipboard - e.g. from a cereal box or other packaging (great way to reuse recyclables!)
Ribbon in two widths
Buttons
Embroidery floss and needle

Instructions

Cut a strip of chipboard about 1" wide. I used a length about 14" long. You can vary the length depending on the size circle you want. Form into circle by stapling ends together

Stick end of wider ribbon to inside of circle over the staples

Wrap ribbon diagonally around circle until covered

Cut three pieces of ribbon about 6"-7" and staple to circle at regular intervals

Wrap second ribbon around ring

Bring ends of three ribbon strips together and stitch on a button to hold them together. I folded the ends together into a point.

To cover up the stitching at the back, stick on another button using a strong adhesive such as KI Gloo, Glossy Accents or a hot glue gun

Add floss and glitter (if desired) to three medium to large buttons

Stick on buttons to cover up where ribbon is stapled to circle

Voila!

I'd love to see your version of this, and how you use it! Once I get my decorating done I'll post a pic of what I used mine for.

I'd like to thank everyone who had joined me for the last two weeks of Holiday Crafts. I've had a blast putting these tutorials together. Plus it really helped me get my own crafting done. :)

I've started a group on here on flickr where everyone can share the creations made using the tutorials. Please do spread the word and let everyone know about the tutorials. Starting Tuesday December 2nd I will go back to my regular bi-monthly posting schedule.

Happy Crafting!

Bird ornament

I was inspired by these ornaments from Ikea. Theirs are made of painted plywood, but when I saw them I thought "I can make these with chipboard and patterned paper!" And voila

Supplies

Template (attached to this post) Download Template
Chipboard
Patterned paper
Eyelet and setting tool
String or ribbon

Instructions

Print and cut out template and use to cut one (1) bird shape from chipboard, and two (2) bird shapes from patterned paper (one for each side of chipboard)

Stick paper to chipboard and use sandpaper or other method to sand and even edges (I use the BasicGrey Precision files which I LOVE)

Add eyelet and string to top

Cut another piece of patterned paper 5"x8"  and fold into an accordion, making each fold about 1" wide.

Insert into slit in bird's body and fan out to form wings

Here's another version I made using corrugated cardboard, paint, trim and sheet music

Trim and Button Ornament

This is an amalgamation of various ideas that have been steeping in my subconscious lately. It's easy and quick!

Supplies

Styrofoam egg shape
Cotton or other trim
Double sided tape
Buttons
Straight pin
Pearl headed pins
Ribbon

Instructions

Place some strips of double sided tape over egg

(my egg looks beaten up because a certain kitty cat got hold of it!)

Use a straight pin to pin end of trim to top of egg

Wrap trim around egg, sticking it to tape as you go

(Note: I only used the skewer to make it easier for me to take the photos one handed. When wrapping the trim I was holding the egg directly)

With pearl headed pins add buttons in a random fashion all over egg

Cut a piece of ribbon and add to top of egg. First overlap the ends

Then secure with a button and pins

And there you have a cute and simple ornament!

Easy Christmas/Winter Decor

Here's my holiday version of a framed collage

Supplies:

Picture frame - either raw or already painted
Gesso and acrylic paint if using a raw frame
Assorted patterned papers
Snowflake punch or die
Letter stickers
Textured cardstock or watercolour paper

Instructions

If using a raw wood frame prime with gesso and then paint in colour of your choice.

Punch or cut 9 to 12 snowflakes. The number you use will depend of the size of your frame and punch. Because of the size of my punch I used three rows of three, but you may want to do 3 rows of 4.

Cut a piece of cardstock or watercolour paper to fit your frame . Use letter stickers to write Noel. Add snowflakes in columns below word.

Assemble frame and collage

Voila!

Variations

You can easily change this to suit the seasons.For example, use the word "Spring" with flower shapes, or "Love" with heart shapes.

Please let me know if you made a holiday collage. I love to look at people's interpretations!

Cone Advent Calendar Banner

I was going through one of my mother-in-law's old magazines and saw a photo of a banner made from cones. Since I was looking for Christmas ideas a light went off, and I thought: Advent Calendar! This is a great project for using up your stash. I didn't purchase a thing to be able to make this!

Supplies
Template (the PDF file is attached to this post)
24 pieces of patterned paper (I used seasonal and non seasonal)
24 pieces ribbon and/or trim
Assorted flowers, brads, sequins and other embellishments
Numbers 1-24 (I used stickers, but you can also use stamps and rub-ons)
1&1/2" circle punch
Ink
Hole punch
String, twine or ribbon

Instructions

(1)Print out the template and cut out. Use to cut 24 pieces from patterned paper. To so this, place template as shown on the back of patterned paper, trace and cut out

(2) Form cone by rolling cut out shape and gluing together as shown

It may take a few tries to get this right and form a nice pointy cone, so I advise trying this with some scrap paper until you get the hang of it. I also found that it was more difficult to get a nice cone shape with cardstock weight papers. Regular weight papers worked extremely well however! Once you get the hang of it then you just need to make 24 of the suckers! :)

(3) Decorate rim of cone by adding ribbon or trim (I just used my regular adhesive for this, but you can also use fabric or ribbon glue)

Now add a flower, or two, plus a brad or sequin if you like! I added my flowers over the spot where the ribbon ends meet.

Note: I didn't spend a lot of time finding embellishments that matched because I really wanted the project to have a homespun feel. Here's a pic of some of my decorated cones

(4) Punch 24 circles from patterned paper, ink the edges and number them 1 to 24

Then add to front of cones below flower. Once again, not a lot of matching going on

(5) Now put it all together!!! Cut three peices of string or ribbon each 2 yards long. Punch a hole in back of cones and tie eight cones onto each piece at regular intervals. I did mine in random order, but you may want to do it in sequential order.

Now you can fill with treats and/or activities for the month of December and hang in your home!

A couple more photos

Download cone_template.pdf

Stacked Christmas Trees

Here's a sneak peek of some of the Holiday Craftiness in store. This class is part of the Holiday Workshop on Scrapbook Takeout. I adapted this idea from one that I saw on The Small Object blog. Hers are made with fabric, but as soon as I saw them I wanted to try this with patterned paper.

You will need:

Assorted holiday patterned papers
Assorted ribbon, trim and embellishments
Adhesive
Sewing Machine (optional)

Instructions

Download the template, which can be found here, print and cut pieces out. Use template pieces to cut out four semi circles of patterned paper.

Either glue or stitch ribbon to the curved edge of semi-circles, leaving a bit of ribbon overhang

You can also use your sewing machine to stitch a zigzag stitch along the straight edge of the semi-circle

Now using adhesive, make the semi-circles into cones. To do this I ran a bit of glue along half of the straight edge, then bent the semi-circle so that the ends of the curves section
met and overlapped a bit. Cut off any excess ribbon.

Now stack cones to form tree, starting with largest.

Add a holiday or seasonal element to top of tree

Variations

Use glitter glue on edges instead of ribbon or trim (blue tree)
Add other embellishments e.g. buttons, to body of tree. (pink tree)
Use decorative scissors to cut edges of semi circles (pink tree)
Make bigger trees by cutting larger semi-circles

Upload your creations into the SBTO Gallery, or the event page on Facebook!

Build a lightbox

A few weeks ago we needed to build a light box to take some professional photos for a project Lucas is working on, and I thought it would be a cool project for a Tuesday To-Do. I used the instructions that can be found here. This is very simple and most importantly affordable, and if you take photos of your projects like minibooks and altered items, or items for sale on etsy or ebay,is a great tool to have.

You will need

5 sheets of white foam board
white duct or masking tape
2-4 clip on lamps
Daylight bulbs for the lamps.
Metal edge ruler
Craft knife or box cutter
Self healing mat or a few thicknesses of cardboard or other scrap material

Instructions

Use the white tape to construct a box from the sheets of foam board as follows by sticking the sides together as shown. You might need a second person to help keep the sides stable for the first couple steps:

here's a close up of the taping action.

Now using the metal edge and craft knife or cutter, trim off the excess pieces. Protect surface with a self-healing mat or cardboard

To use the box,  clip lights on as shown below, and voila a small photo studio in your own home

To use the box I set a custom white balance on my camera. Your camera manual should have instructions on how to do this. Here's a photo straight out of camera of my stuffed piggy taken in the box

Not bad, but we can improve that a bit in a photo editor by adjusting the levels. Here is the edited photo

Pretty neat isn't it? I always thought I'd have to invest in some super expensive home studio equipment to be able to do this, but with a bit of cash and less than half hour it was done!

Here are some links with other ways to make light boxes.

Strobist
Digital Photography School

Have fun! Remember to experiment with your camera settings to get the best results.