Tutorial: Chrysants Silk Brooch

Want to try a simple, easy, yet fabulous project ? This is it :D Chrysants Silky Brooch. It is so easy and make me want to make it again and again.

What you need :
- Silky fabric (I use real silk, but you can use any cheap poly chiffon, shantung, faux silk, or anything, as long as it feel silk and has some glossy surface). Cut it in bias
- Glue gun & the glue
- Metal Brooch (you can use felt as brooch backing, but metal brooch is sturdier and holds the flower better than felt)

Burlap Cuff

y first burlap project with a tutorial.Easy and quick to make with many possibilities.

You will need:

How to Make a Cute Lady Pilgrim Yarn Doll

Guest post by Julie Anne Eason of SeriousSewing.com

Nothing makes a Thanksgiving table look more festive than handmade decorations. These cute pilgrim dolls are a great addition to your feast, and they're so easy even a child can make them. In fact, once my little girls figured out how to make these, we had yarn dolls everywhere! They learned how to be careful with scissors, and working with yarn was great training for their fine motor skills.

Materials:

• small skeins of white, brown or black yarn
• scraps of white and black paper
• small beads for eyes (and some thread to sew them on)
• 12" piece of cardboard or thin book for a tassel form

DIY : colorful wire clothes hanger

We're still in summer mode here, though for K. today is the last day of his summer vacation, unfortunately. This year's summer vacation has been very relaxing - Carpe Diem (seize the day) has been our motto. We've been doing plenty of things but only because we wanted to. And today I really wanted to do something crafty! So I did. It took me a while before I came up with something, though. I made a big mess as I kept pulling things out. But then eventually pieces fell into place when I found a wire clothes hanger

The result of my crafty afternoon is this enhanced, colorful wire clothes hanger... with a short description in 16 photographs. Again, it's an easy craft you could have your kids do or help you with on a rainy afternoon.


What you'll need:

- wire coat hanger (the ones you get at the dry cleaner's)
- bias tape, ribbon, or a piece of fabric
- a piece of (masking) tape
- white glue
- optional: ribbon, rivet punch + rivets




Steps:

1. If you don't have ribbon or bias tape at hand, make your own (pic. 4 & 5) by cutting a long strip from a piece of fabric. Don't bother about cutting in bias, we want the ribbon to fray! Yes, fray! Although I had only a small piece of fabric, I cut one long strip from it. This is how: start cutting a strip lengthwise from one side to the other, BUT WITHOUT CUTTING THROUGH TO THE VERY END! Repeat, alternating sides as shown in the diagram below.



2. Attach the ribbon to the wire coat hanger as shown in pic. 6 and wind the ribbon around a couple of times to hide the tape.

3. Next, start twisting the ribbon around the wire all the way around. Don't be afraid of the fabric fraying - we like the effect! To make sure the ribbon is everywhere tightly twisted around the wire, check once in a while and twist the ribbon between your fingers as you work your way back to where you stopped.

4. At the bottom of the hook twist the ribbon around both wires and work your way up the hook (pic. 9 & 10).

5. Cut off the ribbon leaving a 1 inch end. Put on some white glue and next continue twisting the ribbon, smearing the glue in and over the fabric and such way that the tip is completely covered and there are no loose ends left (pic. 11-13).

6. Optional: Decorate with a tag. I used stamps for this and the motto of our summer "Carpe diem". Make one for every family member and have their names on it, or if you plan for a summer party make one for every guest. The possibilities obviously are endless. Use the rivet punch to attach a rivet and tie to the hanger with a piece of ribbon. All done!

Origami Butterfly

It may fly afway...

Cutting Snowflake

---

Cutting paper

Pom-Pom Tutorial

This is a tutorial for making pom-poms using your
fingers. This one is a small, two-finger pom-pom
(about 1" in diameter) but you can make bigger ones
by using more fingers. As far as yarn choice, thinner
and softer yarn will make a more pleasing pom-pom.

Birthhouse online workshop

Announcing my NEW online workshop: The Felted Birdhouse, August 16 - 27th
Join me this August for my newest online workshop! No matter where you live we can gather together in my virtual studio to make the sweetest felted wool birdhouse for yourself or any lover of cuteness. I’ll be teaching and working with you along the way through a combination of blog posts, downloadable PDF’s, and videos, where participants can communicate with each other and with me. The Felted Birdhouse pattern is not available in my books or anywhere else!

DIY modern paper ornament

I love spiky starburst shapes, so I attempted a version of the traditional Polish porcupine ball. Here's how to make this cool 3D ornament—great for Christmas or decorating any time. I can imagine jumbo sized versions hanging at parties or weddings. They take awhile, though, so you'd better start making them five years before you plan to get married.