Monday, February 17, 2020

Decorative Faux Leather Vase Sleeve

Hey everyone! It's the third Monday of the month - where a group of bloggers are challenged by C'mon Get Crafty to create a new craft or project from their own stash of goodies! Everyone is allowed a $10 allowance for necessities to complete their project (i.e. paint brushes, glue, etc), but the bulk of it must be created from their own stash of goodies.

You know those plain glass vases found at the dollar store and elsewhere! How many times have you wished there was a quick and easy way to dress them up! Well there is! You can enhance the style of a plain glass vase by enclosing it with a decorative sleeve using faux leather or vinyl! It's so easy to slip on a stylish or trendy look laced with woven threads, wire or twine that adds character and style! And the best part, you can easily switch up the design simply by slipping it off and making another by using different colors, prints, and threads to match your decor or occasion. It's unbelievably simple and yet dramatic. And I'm so glad I had everything I needed to make one in my stash for this month's Crafty Destash Challenge!

Materials:

Faux Leather - 13" x 8"
Bow Wire
Fabric Glue
Upholstery Needle
Scissors

Let's begin by measuring around the vase. You want to leave a gap between the side fabric edges where they come together to show the cross-over thread "X." Then measure the height you want the sleeve to cover on the vase and cut out. For this vase, the cut out piece was 11" x 7.5"

Next, thread the bow wire through the eye of the upholstery needle. The bow wire ends frayed trying to get it through the eye, so I used fabric glue on the ends to seal. Then use the needle to make holes on the faux leather. At first I measured the fabric to see if the checks and ruler were evenly spaced - so I could mark the holes, say, every half inch, but they were not. So, to make things less complicated, I decided to just place holes in the center of every other square after the first one, for a neater laced look.

Then, continue lacing the faux leather fabric along the entire height of the sleeve, making a criss-cross or "X" pattern over the edges of the faux leather fabric . . .

tying in a couple of knots when reaching the end. Cut off excess bow wire and hide the knot behind the faux leather so you won't see it.

What a great way to add color or design to a tablescape or centerpiece that's oh so plain!

Disclosure I am a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for us to earn fees by linking to Amazon.com and affiliated sites, this post may contain links. I may receive a very small commission at no cost to you! The affiliate money I earn helps pay my crafting expenses. Thanks so much for your support!

Now, check out what the other bloggers in this group created!

C'mon Get Crafty | Love My Little Cottage

Slices of Life | Domestic Deadline

Across the Blvd | Purple Hues and Me

Modern on Monticello | This Autoimmune Life

Sew Crafty Crochet | Home Crafts by Ali

Every month, a group of bloggers challenge each other to create a new craft or project from their own stash of goodies! Check out some awesome creations you might be able to make from your own stash! #CraftRoomDestashChallenge

Monday, February 10, 2020

Soda Bottle Chair Pin Cushion

4:00 AM Gail @Purple Hues and Me Blog Hop, pin cushion, recycle/upcycle, soda bottle crafts, upcycle challenge 20 comments

Hey everybody! It's the 2nd Monday of the month and time for another Monthly Challenge Blog Hop! I've joined a group of creative bloggers to bring you this monthly challenge blog hop! The theme for February is to create an upcycled, repurposed, or re-made project!

Today I'm sharing how to make a pin cushion my ex sister-in-law, Maria, showed me how to do using a coke bottle! Here's a little background story - shortly after moving into our present home, my niece Patricia and her mom, Maria (pictured) drove up from North Carolina to see our new home.

Maria, who was also quite crafty, had just returned from a trip home to Brazil. While there, some friends showed her how to make an adorable pin cushion out of a soda bottle. So when they came to visit, Maria shared how to make the pin cushion with me (pictured below!) We had a fun craft session that day!

This was back in 2012. At the time, Maria had an Etsy shop and sold the pin cushions on it, so naturally she didn't want anyone to know how they were made. And I've been honoring her wish not to share her tutorial - until now. Sadly, Maria passed in April 2017. She was a beautiful person, both inside and out! I recently asked my niece if I could share how her mom made the pin cushion. And of course she said yes - cause I'm her favorite aunt! Lol!

Materials used:

2 liter clear plastic soda bottle (Coke brand)

Craft knife/scissors

Black marker

Nail polish (acetone) remover

Cotton balls

5/8" trim or bias tape

2 - 12" x 12" fabric scraps

Circle templates

Polyester Filling

Needle and Thread

Quick grab glue

Let's begin by washing the 2 liter plastic soda bottle (Coke brand) with dish detergent and water to remove any stickiness and grime and then let dry. I like that this Minute Maid bottle (also a Coke brand) is smoother with less lines than a regular coke bottle. Next, cut the bottle in half following the bottom edge of the label on the bottle. Maria drew a pattern outlining the chair on a bottle she gave me to follow and I duplicated that on this bottle.

Next, cut out the pattern and use a cotton ball dampen with nail polish remover to remove the black marker lines.

I also measured the chair outline of the pin cushion that I made years ago to help with the pattern design. The top areas tapers up from the bottom.

The original chair pin cushion had bias tape glued on the edges, but I didn't have any that matched so I had to think of something else to cover the edges with. At first I thought about using 5/8 inch ribbon, but it has to be stretchy and forgiving that would easily go around the plastic curves. And ribbon is not! Then I remembered some woven trim I used to make snowflakes. Ding, ding, ding, ding! And this trim was so much easier to glue on than bias tape!

Look how pretty the trim looks!

Next, trace the outline of the circle templates on the wrong side of the fabric and cut out.

Starting with the larger circle, make a running stitch around the folded inside edges of the fabric going around the entire circle . . .

and then pull the thread to gather the fabric into a circle. Sew a few extra stitches where the threads meet and knot to secure the gathers and cut off excess thread.

Next, stuff filling into the fabric circle making sure to push it in as tight as possible until you can't get anymore filling in! Be sure that it's even and fluffy like a pouf, all around. Then sew a few more stitches and knot thread to secure the cushion gathers, cutting off the excess thread.

Next, cut a circle of fabric, folding edges under and glue in place over the cushion opening to complete the bottom cushion.

Repeat the same steps using the next size circle to make the smaller back cushion.

Then make three yo yo's by sewing a running stitch along the folded edge around the smaller circles.

Gently pull the thread to gather the fabric toward the center. Adjust and flatten the gathers to form a circle or yo yo. Once satisfied with the look, secure by stitching close to the gathers, knot and cutting off excess thread. Hand press the yo yo flat with gathers in center.

With needle and thread, attach top cushion to plastic back through center of yo yo, making a recess in front center of cushion - then sewing back and forth several times and knotting, to secure.

Next, fold over side arm flaps sewing back and forth several times . . .

securing through the center of the yo yo, and knotting in place.

Maria used cute little ribbon flowers in the center of the yo yo's for her pin cushion. I left mine plain.

Disclosure I am a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for us to earn fees by linking to Amazon.com and affiliated sites, this post may contain links. I may receive a very small commission at no cost to you! The affiliate money I earn helps pay my crafting expenses. Thanks so much for your support!

Meet This Month's Hosts:

Across the Blvd | Stone Cottage Adventures

Purple Hues & Me | Domestic Deadline

Chas' Crazy Creations | Sew Crafty Crochet

Cookies, Coffee, & Crafts | Coastal Bohemian

Tuesday, February 4, 2020

Foam Sheet Ruffles and Cardboard Valentine Wreath

4:00 AM Gail @Purple Hues and Me foam sheet crafts, recycle/upcycle, valentine wreath 7 comments

Dress up any door or wall with this adorable Valentine Wreath! I love crafting with foam sheets - also called eva foam. They can be shaped and manipulated with heat into lovely creations - I think so much better and easier than using felt or paper! You can find some of my previous foam sheet creations here, here, here, and here, just to show a few. The best part about this is wreath is that it is totally a recycle craft starting with a cardboard box and newspaper! And you won't believe how easy it is to make!

Materials:

Cardboard box

Newspaper

Marker

Scissors

Craft knife

Foam Sheets

Tacky Glue

DAP RapidFuse All Purpose Adhesive

3" Circle Punch

Small electric griddle/iron

Ribbon for hanging

How I made it:

First, I cut out the side of a large cardboard box for the wreath base.

Then, I created a heart shape template out of newspaper by folding a full newspaper sheet in half, drawing a half heart as large as the height of the cardboard.

Cut that out and open it on top of the cardboard to trace!

Next, used the newspaper heart to draw a heart approximately 2" smaller to cut out. Then use that as a template to trace a smaller heart in the middle of the larger heart . . .

to cut out.

And then applied tacky glue to one side and placed a foam sheet on top, smoothing it out.

Let dry completely for a few hours.

While the foam heart shape base was drying, began punching out foam circles using a 3" circle punch. I could get 20 circles from a 12"x18" foam sheet and used four different shades of pink foam sheets to cut out 80 circles. It was easier to turn the circle punch over so I could see and adjust the position of the foam sheet and have less waste between circles.

Once all the circles were punched out, it was time to make the ruffles using a small electric griddle on low. If you don't have an electric griddle, you can use the flat surface of an iron on low heat that's safely propped up. Once I placed the foam circle on the griddle, I watched closely to see the edges curl up. Then quickly picked up the circle, holding in the sides gently . . .

to create the ruffle.

I also used my fingers on my other hand to push in the opposite sides for more ruffles.

Continued heating and picking up the circles to shape into ruffles . . .

until all the circles were ruffles! Then grouped them together in like colors.

Next, I started gluing on the ruffles along one side using a quick drying glue called DAP RapidFuse. I tried using hot glue first, but hot glue doesn't bond well foam sheet to foam sheet. It was quite messy and took too much time to dry and stick. Phewy! So I got out my trusty RapidFuse glue to use! A super glue would work too.