Stacking Boxes Redo

I had every intention of taking photos of my recent project...Ok, that's a lie.

I got lazy, and my camera on my iPhone is HORRIBLE. I mean HORRIBLE.

Wait til you see the 2 photos I did take with it.

So I immersed myself in my craft, didn't worry about taking photos, and had a fun night with it.

I found 6 stacking boxes at a thrift store the other week and got them ALL for $5.00 

YES, I got ALL SIX boxes for less than a dollar a piece. 

It pretty much made my day. 

Ya, I'm easy to please.

 

I cut some burlap, that I already had on hand.

And glued it around each box, leaving a good inch or 2 of the box showing on top and bottom.

Then I wrapped and glued jute around each lid.

And wrapped and glued  jute around the top and bottom edge of the burlap.

 

I found some labels online and printed them onto fabric.
(Using freezer paper method.)

 

Attached the fabric to each box, and outlined it with jute.

And that was all, finished and done and they are growing on me.

On a different note, WHAT IS WRONG WITH THE CAMERA ON MY IPHONE?!

It used to take amazing photos, with or without flash.

Now no matter if I use flash or not, lots of light or not, the photos are horrible.

Anyone else have this problem?

Snowman Container

I have a large version of this lil snowman that I placed a small tree in.

My sister-in-law admired him, so I made a mini version for her.

I used a cottage cheese container. 

Painted it a light tan color.

I used dark brown to give a grungy look to the top and bottom rims.

Then painted on his face. 

I used tea stained cheese cloth and stuffed in the inside.

Then added some prigs of greenery, a stuffed candy cane, 

some cinnamon sticks and a star. 

Pretty quick and easy.

Primitive "Peppermint" Sticks

I made these for myself. :) 

And as Christmas gifts.

I cut dowel rods down to about 4 inches long.

(Any size dowel rods would work.)

I cut my fabric about 6" x 1".

 

 

Used hot glue. (I LOVE HOT GLUE, if you haven't noticed by now)

Hot glued the strip of material on one end at a slight angle.

I wrapped the entire stick, and then hot glued the end, and cut off any excess material.

I printed a tag I found from a share site on Facebook onto a piece of fabric.

(Using freezer paper ironed to the back of most material allows it to go easily through the printer)

And attached it with twine. 

 

Voila, Peppermint Twists that will last me forever. :)

Snowman In A Jar

I've seen photos all over Facebook of crafters making their own lil snowman scenery jars. 

So I had to try it myself.

Ok, well the craft started out great.

And I even got out my REAL camera to take photos of it all.

Then it all fell apart from there. LOL

After a few pictures, I got a visitor.

And it threw me off my game. 

So when I finally got back to crafting,

The snowman I was working on would not go together right.

So I gave up on the photos. 

So instead of sewing, I got out my glue gun. LOL

My first step was to make 3 round shapes for a snowman using this tutorial...

HomeSpun from The Heart Tutorial

Well, that did NOT go so well for such a small snowman. 

Maybe if I would have hand sewn, but I DON'T hand sew.

 I finally just made three sloppy balls for my snowman.

Drew on a mouth, and attached a nose made from material shaped into a cone.

Wrapped a scarf around him.

Made a horrible hat using material and my glue gun.

No directions needed, as I just shaped and glued the best I could.

I placed him in a mason jar. Added a couple pieces of old garland that I cut down, 

hoping to make them look like tiny trees. 

And then I added some Bean Bag Fill to look like snow.

Maybe cotton would have looked better? Or even some fake snow bought at the store? 

But I used what I had on hand. :)
 

And here is my finished craft for the day.

Ya, nothing to be proud of for sure. But it is what it is. 

Wish me better luck on my next craft.

Projects like these are why my blog is called 

MAYBE I can make that.

Hanging Candle

 

I cut down an old piece of wood I had laying around.

I painted and sanded to distress.

 

I drilled a hole in the top center of the board. 

 

I then attached a strand of wire through the hole and wrapped it around itself.

I attached the candle using a piece of string. 

And I didn't want to admit this, as its pretty silly but...

My candle kept sliding down off the board. 

So I used a thumb tack attached right underneath the candle

to hold it in place. An old small nail would have looked better, but I didn't have any on hand.

 I did paint the thumbtack to blend in though. :)

Mini Christmas Tree

How did December 2nd get upon us already? 

Time is going by TOO Fast!

 

My first Christmas craft was a retake on the fabric tree's I have previously made.

Instead of tying all my material in knots and attaching to the tree, I did it in a different pattern.

I simply cut the fabric in about 3" x 1" strips, and looped them. 

Then attached with a glue gun. 

And each row I placed a little bit overlapping the previous row.

Simple, easy and quick.

Not sure if I like it, but at least it was something different. :)

Ruffle Curtains

I have always made my own curtains. But rarely anything ever complicated.

My sister asked me to make a set of curtains for her kitchen windows. 

She gave me the fabric, and said to make "Whatever."

I wanted to do something different, but cute. 

I own a Singer Simple sewing machine. (Which I LOVE)

And I looked everywhere for a ruffle foot attachment, 

only to find that for my model machine, they make no 

such attachment. 

So I decided to make my own ruffles,

 and shockingly enough,

it was very easy, although time consuming, to do.

 

 

I decided for larger ruffles.

I cut a back liner piece the size of the window.

And then cut 6 1/2" strips of material wide and almost double the lenght of the liner.

(I did cut off the excess on some pieces. Wasteful I know! LOL)

Here's where I do things the weird and wrong way.

I used my liner as my template. I attached my ruffle material to the liner on one end.

And then about every 1-2 inches I just folded the fabric on my ruffle material ONLY and pinned it to itself.

(DO NOT pin to the liner yet. I didn't want the liner would NOT bunch up)

I did this for every single strip of ruffle material.

I sewed each ruffle piece with a simple straight stitch on my sewing machine.

After I had sewn all of my ruffle pieces. I attached each piece to the liner.

And sewed it on, using a straight stitch. 

After I sewed each ruffle piece to the liner, I added a new row and overlapped it by about one inch or so to hide the previous ruffle thread.

I followed no template. Just a lot of guess work. And they turned out wonderfully, with no mistakes. 

Which is rare for me. :)

I know this is not very detailed. If you have any questions, please feel free to ask and I will answer the best I can. 

 Here are the finished curtains. 

 

Head Board from Old Window

While in Sugar Creek, (BEST place to shop for primitives)

I found a large, old window. And got it for a steal at $10.00!

Super happy that my sister let me cram it in to her brand new car. LOL 

It was perfect. So I just wiped it off a bit. 

I then decided that it needed a shelf attached to it. 

 I went and bought a thin, long board from Home Depot for under $5.00.

 

I was so happy with how I matched up the brand new board to the old window. I simply used a couple different colors of gray paint, along with black and white. And kept layering it. Also, want to know my other secret I found worked wonders? 

(I LOVE pinterest) 

I used Elmer's wood glue between each layer. And once it dried, it gave the paint an old cracked look.

I was also proud of the fact that I did this project 100% by myself. 

After I attached the shelf board, It was time to hang. 

Another wonderful tip I discovered thanks to pinterest, 

I placed a piece of  painters tape the length of the window.

(Doesn't that top shelf look all old and weathered?!)

I then took the piece of tape, and attached it on the wall where I wanted the head board.

I found where the studs where, and marked an X on the tape.

Also, take note of the pieces of blue tape on the top of the wall.

Those are where the studs are. I left those pieces of tape there so I knew exactly where to drill 

my headboard once it was ready to hang.

I took the tape and placed it back on my head board. 

And pre drilled my screws where I had marked the X's. 

All ready to be hung...

And here it is. It was so easy to hang because of the pre drilling! 

And I did it with NO help at all. 

And because of the blue tape I had left on the wall, I knew exactly where to start my screws. 

I'm sure it seems like an extra step, but it is what worked for me. LOL

And here it is, mostly finished. 

I have since added stuff to the shelf on top, and moved the love banner to the bottom of it.

I made the banner from burlap and tea stained material. 

And I used pictures of my husband and I and strung them on a piece of Jute.

Solar Log Stand

I found THIS photo on pinterest awhile back.

(It only links to the photo, no website could be found)

But I just loved them. 

The original photo below...

I just HAD to have a set of my own. 

So I showed my hubby, and he got right on it for me. 

We went and found a tree that was already down. 

And my wonderful Craig, cut me a bunch of pieces.

He also cut me bases for the bottom of them.

And drilled holes for the solar lights to sit in. 

I actually helped him drill the base to the log. And then nailed on the stars and the pip berries.

*The next set I make, will NOT have the pip berries. After one rain, the pip berries turned white! So disappointing. 

But here are my finished ones. 

Baby Shower Fabric Gift Bag

I have 2 friends I know about to have a baby, both having little girls. 

So while a friend and I were out shopping, 

I came across these fabric bags, for just $1.00 a piece.

She talked me into buying them, saying I could make them cute somehow to use for our gifts. 

Well, not one to sit around and wait, I had to see what I could come up with.

I was actually lucky enough to have every thing on hand that I needed.

I even had a baby onesie sitting around. 

(I know, weird, I don't have any kids. I don't want kids. Nor does my husband.

But when my sister gave me this to give to my nephew who was having a baby, I just couldn't part with it.

Thought maybe one day, it would make us change our mind about having kids. LOL)

I used the onesie to trace around on my pink material. 

You could always print out an image to use as a template. 

I wasn't loving how long the onesie looked, so I shortened it up a bit. 

And this was my cutout. 

I attached some double sided fusible webbing to the back of my cutout and attached to the bag.
 (It gave it more stability, and it held it firmly in place as I sewed around the edges. I used my zigzag stitch, used a regular sewing machine. So it is far from perfect. 

 

And here it is attached to the bag.

 

(You might want to embellish on the onesie before you add it to the bag. But for me, it was just easier doing it this way)
 

Now came the fun part, embellishing.

Actually, this is always the hardest part for me. I never know how much or how little to add, or where to place everything. So I just played around with everything I had. I tried different ribbons in different placements. Different material for either a heart or star. And this is what I came up with...

 

I then sewed it all on. It's far, far from perfect, barely even good. But I still think it's cute enough to use as a gift bag. And it is reusable, even if it just holds junk hidden far away in the back of a closet.

Finished both of them in less than an hour. 

The one with white ribbon on it is my favorite.

 

Handmade Primitive Banner

I am a banner freak, I just LOVE banners.

I coffee stained my material. 

*I use any kind of coffee to stain my fabric. 

I wrap a couple tbs in a paper towel, twist the end, add it to a cup of water and put in the microwave for a minute. (Making sure my entire piece of paper towel is wet first!) Then I brush it on my wadded up material. And then just pour the rest all over it so the entire piece of fabric is soaked. Let it try overnight, and this is what I get. Some spots darker, which I like!

I cut out my banner using a banner template I found for free online.

Pentant Banner Template

 

 

I used my SCAL2 program and my cricut to cut out some shapes.

And then I attached them to my banner pieces using the Steam A Seam method.

 

 

 You can read all my directions for steam a seam HERE

Now came the time to string them up. 

I happily got out my crop-o-dile, thinking I could just use it to put a hole in each corner of my banner pieces.

Well, NO SUCH LUCK!

My crop-o-dile just refused to poke a hole through my muslin material.

(And neither would a regular hole punch, I tried. LOL)

So does anyone know of a way to put a hole in material? Please share. 

I ended up using a razor/utilty knife to slice an x in each corner. 

I got out my Jute. Twine would have been just as well, if not better. But all I had on hand was Jute.

I measured where I intended to hang my banner, and added about 2 extra feet, and then cut a piece of my Jute to that length.

I then started adding my banner pieces to my jute string. I made it so the jute came across the front of each banner piece. I think it adds to the primitive look this way.

And here it is all hung up. 

(Don't pay attention to the shelf decorations. My wonderful hubby just built me the shelf, and I haven't got around to decorating it the way I want yet!) 

Using the Cricut to Cut Material

I have made pillows before, easiest thing to sew. 

So when I came across a video on how to cut fabric with your cricut, 

I just knew this would be my next project.

I took my well loved, and well used, and well in need of a replacement, couch throw pillows, 

and I used them as a template. (Instead of using stuffing for my pillows, I plan on using my old pillow itself)

*I did make a set of pillows as a present last week, and they turned out perfect! And I used stuffing for those. My luck with MY pillows, was not on my side.

Measured my pillow, and added about 1/2 inch extra for seam allowance.
 

Cut my material and sewed it, leaving a large opening on one end. (To turn inside out and add the stuffing, or pillow in my case)




I then cut a piece of muslin fabric to use as a backdrop for my design. You can use any material for this or skip it entirely.

 

 

I did not want sew lines to show, nor did I want the extra hassle of cutting and measuring, so I just used steam a seam to attach this piece to my pillow case/cover.

(Jeeze, I really must stop being so lazy!)

I made the template using my Sure Cuts A Lot program.

I am lucky enough that my SCAL still works with my old Cricut.

 (This program no longer works with newer Cricut's)

And I cut it out on a piece of paper first to see how I liked the look of it. 

Here is the design done with the paper...

And I loved how it looked. 

So I decided to cut it on my material.

Now, if you plan on doing this, and you are like me and have never cut material with the cricut,

this YouTube video  explains it perfectly!

(This is the video that inspired me to make my own pillow with this technique.)

I cut my material to size, then added the steam a seam to the back side.

As I learned in the above video,

I attached the material with steam a seam side down to my mat.

Once you have that done, BE SURE TO MIRROR YOUR IMAGINE before cutting!

(This is very important if you are cutting letters!)

I learned this by mistake, by forgetting to mirror mine!

This is where I ran into problems. 

I knew my blade in my cricut needed replaced, but I thought I had a couple more cuts with it. 

 

I was WRONG. 

 

I had ONE cut left with it, and I wasted it when I forgot to mirror my image.

It barely cut the crow out the 2nd time.

So none of my letters cut properly. And after an hour of trying to cut them out with a utility knife, I gave up. 

I decided to made a design with the images that did cut. 

Not sure how much I like it, almost wish I had waited until I got new blades, but I have NO patience at times.

So I attached them, and ironed them in place.

After finishing, something was just off to me.

The muslin was just far to white.

So what I should have done first, I had to do last.

Ya, I told ya luck was NOT with me on this project.

I coffee dyed the muslin. And while I was at it, went ahead and coffee stained another piece of it for my next pillow. (Which I will be waiting for a new cricut blade to attempt! LOL)

 

I used embroidery thread and sewed around the edges.

And here it is all, almost all, finished.

I just have to add the pillow and sew it up. 

But I am waiting until I get my 2nd pillow done so I can have a matching set for my couch.

 

 I found the crow graphic for this project at

Primitive Blessing Free Goodies