Halloween Pillows - D I Y bias tape and piping

My baby shower is coming up. It's going to be at my home and we thought it would be fun to have a Halloween theme. I went shopping for some inspiration the other day and saw the cutest decorative Halloween pillows, which would be awesome for the themes' decor. They were so expensive and for a seasonal item, just not worth the money. Nothing gives me more gratification artistically than to make my own stuff, and when I set out to make something, my first priority is to find as many materials as I can that are already on hand. I have loads of fabric, and hoped I would find something that would work for this project. Let me know what you think.

It took a while, but eventually I gathered all the materials.The only thing I didn't have was piping. I wanted something with a contrast, so I decided to make my own. This brief tutorial is for those who have never made their own piping.

What is bias? Bias tape is a narrow strip of fabric cut on a 45 degree angle. HUH? Here, maybe this will help http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bias_tape. You can buy it at any fabric store, and when it is on sale, I suggest you picking some up from time to time, but if you don't have any, you can easily make your own.

How to make your own Bias Tape for piping, my way:

Materials

• A rectangle of fabric
• Fabric Chalk
• Yard Stick or Ruler
• Scissors
• Cording

Step 1
Measure the length and width of your pillow. Mine were 20"x20". You will need enough piping to go around the entire pillow which would be approximately 80". Two pillows will need 160". Easy so far!

Step 2
Lay out your fabric. Begin by marking around the yard stick with the chalk at what appears to be a 45 degree angle. Do your best, but it doesn't have to be perfect. I drew a bunch of strips, and didn't bother to measure this because I did a lot and knew just by eyeballing it that it would be plenty, which it was.

I know what you are thinking...butterflies for Halloween pillows??? Just wait, you'll see.

Step 3
Cut them out. Then cut all of the edges to make sure they are squared off. Sew the edges together. Remember, Right Sides Together! You should now have a long strip of fabric.

Step 4
Measure out your cording. Since I know I need about 160", I gave myself an extra 20" incase of error, so I cut out 180".

Step 5
Attach your zipper foot to your machine. Take your bias tape and the cording, and simply wrap the cording with the bias tape. Sew very close to seal it in.

You are done! Now you have your own piping. Go ahead and attach to anything, whether it is a pillow or blanket. Whatever you like.

I would like to point out that the piping just looks black. It has little silver sparkles on it from the butterflies, but you can't see a single butterfly. Success!

Now onto my pillows. I decided to make pocket pillows this time since these are to be seasonal. I will make new covers for Christmas this year too (so long as my pregnancy goes well).

These are of the back, just FYI. Making a rounded corner instead of square is much easier for sewing on piping. I highly recommend this. Your finished product will still appear quite square.

Peek-A-Boo!!!  I chose to do an iron on transfer method for these, as it will wash well in the long run. These lovely moon images came from Karen, my fairy godmother, at the Graphics Fairy. http://graphicsfairy.blogspot.com/search/label/Halloween%20Clip%20Art

I hope you like them. Stay tuned for more....

The little horse that will again

This was my little horse, when I was a baby. I remember rocking on him and loving it. I also remember that as I got a little bigger I would rock on him wildly!!! Such good times.

I hung onto my horse from my childhood for 30 years. When I moved, so did he. I didn't know what I wanted to do with him someday...all I knew was that he was NOT yard sale material! He moved from Ohio, to New Mexico, to Arizona, to California, and then finally to Louisiana. He spent his days and years in garages, dusty, on a shelf.

Here is my horse when he arrived at the salon...do you like his foils???

Anyhow, when I was working on my baby's dresser and crib, I said, why not refinish the horse with the exact same Annie Sloan paints and waxes? AS paints go a long way and I still had plenty for him. I love that paint so much because you can vary the colors to your own liking, and can either go light on the wax or heavy. I opted for heavy. I wanted the horse to still look loved and beat up a bit. Did I achieve my goal? You tell me.

Now he has a new life and will be loved all over again by our little girl. Can you see how happy he is too?

D I Y Mini Canvas Giclée

I spotted the cutest new product at Hobby Lobby. Framed white mini canvases! My store had three different frame styles, with each style having a few sizes to choose from. A great idea came to mind, and it turned out awesome! I just had to share.

I'm no Bob Ross (thinking of you mom ;) so I wasn't about to hand paint anything. Recently I had used some tissue paper on another project, which will be featured soon, so I thought I would give it a try on my mini canvases for the nursery.

I made up this DIY Mini Canvas Giclée. Maybe other people have done this too, but I truly just tried it on my own without any research. This is my method.

Materials

• An image that you would like on your canvas
• Mini framed white canvas from Hobby Lobby, or any canvas you would like
• White tissue paper
• One 8.5x11 piece of regular card stock
• Painters tape
• Scissors
• Mod Podge, Flat
• Paint brush
• Annie Sloan dark wax (or any dark wax, or maybe even a dark glaze made from craft paint)

Method

Gather your image, whether digital or already printed out. I had a sheet of Easter images laying around in my old card making supplies. The bunnies were perfect for the baby.

Take your card stock and neatly wrap your tissue paper over it, with the dull side facing out. Fold, cut, and tape it to the back side of the card stock. What you should have is a piece of card stock that is nothing but dull tissue paper on one side, and trimmed tissue paper taped down on the back.

Place your card stock into your printer tray.

Print your image onto the tissue paper. You may need to do a test print on regular paper to see if your image will fit your mini canvas accordingly. Adjust the size as needed.

Remove the tissue paper from your printer and remove it from the card stock. Trim your image so that it will lay almost perfectly onto your canvas.

Remove mini canvas from frame.

VERY CAREFULLY lightly coat the back side of your image with Mod Podge. Try not to get it onto to your fingers. It may rip it! You don't need it perfectly covered, just a decent amount.

Apply your image to the canvas. There will be wrinkles, and that is good!!

VERY CAREFULLY continue to coat the entire front of your image which is now adhered to the front of the canvas. You want the Mod Podge on fairly thick, but not too thick that you can't see your image. Do this step quickly as you do not want the ink to get mixed into the Mod Podge, otherwise you will smear it around.

Allow to dry completely.

Dab a paper towel into your dark wax, and begin to coat your image. Wipe off wax.

Now your image should look antiqued.

Place canvas back into frame, and VOILA!

DIYMini Canvas Giclée!!!

Chalk Transfer - Shabby Stool

Have you tried a chalk transfer yet? It is super easy. Follow these steps to get the same results!

Oh so pretty!

1. Print your image, and then color some colored chalk onto the back of your image.
2. Tape your image to your piece, whether furniture or a wall, etc.
3. Trace your image with a ball point pen.
4. Remove your image, and fill in the outline. You can do this with craft paint or a sharpie, your choice.

A special thanks to Karen at the Graphics Fairy for the typography http://graphicsfairy.blogspot.com/.

100 year old farm dresser - A total revamp!

I was lucky to find a FREE antique fram dresser on CraigsList. The lady that gave it to me, Annie (http://www.anniesblessednest.com/), warned that the project would be a lot to tackle, and I could see why. She wanted it to go to the right person, and I knew that was me. The thing was old old, and falling apart. It was loaded with old paint, the drawers were broken, missing the bottoms, and a leg was bucking out. If you touched it you were covered in brown scariness. Needless to say, I was in. I wanted the dresser for my baby who will be born this December. I know what you are a thinking...a filthy old dresser for a baby? Don't worry, I know how to take care of such nonsense.

So that was the dresser before. Like I said, it was bad. No wonder Annie just gave it to me, right? But what I loved about this dresser was that it wasn't your usual French Provincial redo. While I love that look, I get bored with it. This was something that someone truly made. It wasn't from a fancy furniture store. I could really see that someone made this for their home a long time ago. Oh and that cute little girl in the picture, that is my niece. She is my mini-me.

After some sanding with filter, I started to cover the dresser with primer. First I just used some spray paint primer because I didn't want to dirty my roller. Then it got three coats of Kilz primer. I filled all of the cracks with some painters caulk to make sure it was nicely closed off. Then I got to the repairs. The drawers needed new bottoms, and candle wax on the parts that slide because the dresser was made old school, and they were stuck. In the picture above, you can see a strap, that was for the leg that was bucking out. I took 3 weeks to gradually move that thing down and cinch it inward to straighten out the bad leg. It worked like a charm, but if you want instant gratification, in a case like that, you can forget it. You must be patient.

I repainted the inside of the drawers with an oops paint from Home Depot that was an ultra high gloss latex enamel. It took four coats because it was so glossy and I wanted a heavy candy like finish where I could see my reflection! BTW, see that rocking horse? ^^^^^ Check back for the DIY for that cutie!

From there I got to painting. It is summer so I prefer to work indoors. I used Anne Sloan Chalk paint for the top and body of the dresser. Coco for the top and Old White for the sides. For the top, after three coats of paint, I sanded it by hand with a 1000 grit sand paper, because I wanted it super smooth. The dresser was so old it really needed it.

I then spray painted the original knobs with Rustoleum Oiled Bronze, five coats. They turned out awesome. Who needs to buy new when you can redo, right?  For the graphic, I visited my fairy god mother at the Graphics Fairy, and found the perfect French label. I loved the bug on the jar, perfect for my baby! http://www.graphicsfairy-diy.com/2012/03/transfer-printable-french-patisserie.html

I did some light distressing on the sides and front...only where natural banging around would occur. After three coats of dark wax on the top and three clear on the sides, my baby's dresser was done! Hope you like it as much as we do.


Thanks!!!!