Bowdabra Bridal Shower or Party Favor

If you're involved in nuptial party preparations and looking for a festive touch to create, check out my party favor tutorial over at Bowdabrablog!  You'll be surprised with the material used to make this!

Take a little time to enjoy

and

Happy Crafting!

Earth Day Upcycled Magazine Basket

There are so many crafts that you can make to celebrate Earth Day.  It's a great time to look around your home and see what you've collected to repurpose into something new. 

I keep a decorative container filled with magazines in my bedroom. I love looking at them over and over to get inspiration and sometimes use in recycle/upcycle projects.  I remember seeing a basket  made of coiled magazine strips shaped into open squares that looked so different and unique.  I filed that image away intending one day to create something like it.

It has taken awhile to finally put the basket together.  I actually started it last year, got discouraged, and put it away. A craft group that I belong to decided to do a blog hop on earth day crafts and I knew the magazine basket would be perfect for the event.

You really don't need a lot of supplies to make this adorable basket :

Magazine pages

Small square container

White glue

Wood skewer

Scissors

Hot glue gun

Mod podge

Cardboard

Begin by making the magazine tubes that will be shaped into squares.  Since this is an Earth Day project, I cut out only green & blue pattern magazine pages - green for grass, blue for sky. Cute, eh!

Fold the page in half lengthwise, and then fold in half again. Cut along the folds into four even strips. 

Take a skewer stick and place it on the corner edge of the magazine at an angle.

Take the end tip of the page over the skewer and start rolling the paper on the stick until you get near the end. You might have to lift the paper up to tighten the roll by twirling the stick.  It takes a bit of practice to make tight tubes. 

                                                      

Add white glue to the triangular edge and roll to the end. Flatten the finished tube. 

You will need to make lots and lots of tubes for this basket.

Next, take a small square container (I used an empty salt shaker) and wrap a tube around it a few times. Connect additional tubes, if needed, by adding a little white glue on end and inserting into opening of wrapped tube.  

Seal end with hot glue.

You will need 54 magazine paper squares to assemble this basket.

To assemble, connect the squares in groups of three for each side. Apply hot glue along the connecting edges and press together. Then cut smaller strips of rods and wrap around the connecting sides and hot glue in place.  

For the shorter two sides, three rows of three squares were glued together and wrapped.

For the longer sides, and bottom, four rows of three squares were glued together, wrapped. 

All corners were connected in the same manner to form the basket.

Next, cardboard was measured and cut-out slightly smaller than the bottom of the basket, mod podge on both sides with magazine paper, and inserted inside the basket to prevent contents from falling out.

And finally, five magazine tubes were woven together to make the handle. You can see a full tutorial on how to weave here.  The ends of the handle were wrapped around the center square, hot glued together and secured with a piece of magazine tube and hot glue.

The basket can be sealed with mod podge or gorilla wood glue that dries clear.

This handcrafted upcycled magazine basket is perfect for showing off a huge array of items, one of which are beautiful spring flowers.

Join in and be sure to check out all of our Earth Day projects!

Take a little time to enjoy

and

Happy Earth Day Crafting!

An InLinkz Link-up

Mother's Day Woven Ribbon Frame & Bows

This post first appeared on Bowdabrablog where I'm on the design team.

Celebrate Mother's Day by turning loving memories into a classic handmade gift using ribbon. 

I have an old picture of my aunts I want to gift to my niece, Patricia, this coming Mother's Day. I think she will be the one to help carry on our family history through memorabilia.  I found the picture in a loose pile of family photos I inherited from my parents.  It needed a frame so what better way than to make something handcrafted with ribbons and bows.

I picked up a 5x7 unfinished frame and 3/8" ribbon at Michaels - just the sizes I needed for this project. And using my Mini Bowdabra to make cute little bows as a finishing touch, I knew the final piece would be perfect for gift-giving! 

Start by laying out your ribbon strips by covering one side of the frame in a desired color pattern at the inside edge, cutting enough to wrap around to the back and tape together.  Next, at the inside edge of the frame, begin weaving the ribbon over and under each ribbon, alternating the ribbon as you weave.  Secure the ends with tape on the back of the frame, cutting off any excess.

Continue placing and weaving ribbon strips, keeping the same color pattern on each corner section of the frame.

Once the longer ribbon strips are woven, shorter strips of ribbon should be placed in the same color pattern and woven on the shorter sides of the frame.

I laid out the ribbon strips in the color pattern, then cut them in half, and next, weaved the ribbon over and under, one side at a time.

Next, do the shorter sides of the frame, the same as before, securing each strip with tape.

Once finish, check the woven ribbon strips to make sure they are straight on the front.  The back can be covered by gluing on a piece of cardboard or fabric slightly smaller than the size of the frame for a neater look.

Your pretty woven ribbon frame is now ready to be embellished.

Add a group of swirled rhinestones, if you like .  .  .

and then make a few cute bows using a Mini Bowdabra.

Here's how:

Cut an 18" piece of Bowdabra wire and fold in half and place into the Mini Bowdabra and Ruler with a loop at one end and two loose wires at the opposite end, tucking the ends underneath the Bowdabra.

Make a  ribbon loop, matching desired size on ruler, and press into the Mini Bowdabra.

Next, fold the other side at the same width leaving the ribbon tails below loop.  Scrunch down with the Mini Bowdabra Wand.

Thread the two loose ends of the Bowdabra Bow Wire through the loop at the other end.  Pull the Bowdabra Bow Wire tightly while the bow is still in the Mini Bowdabra.  Gently pull the bow out and tie the Bodabra Bow Wire around to the back and knot.  Cut off excess.

Make two more cute Bowdabra Bows, for a total of three, to embellish your frame and glue in place. 

Doesn't this look like the bows are tied from the ribbon strips on the frame?

How cute is this! 

Have fun this Mother's Day creating mementos of those special occasions using ribbon and your Mini Bowdabra!

Oh, btw!  Save those ribbon scraps to make a Spiky Bow like this: 

 with your Mini Bowdabra!

Happy Crafting!

Mother's Day Rustic Wooden Frame - DIY

"My Brother, Bill"

Hi all!  I'm over on Bowdabrablog today!  I'm sharing an adorable way to turn loving memories, like family photos, into a heartfelt Mother's Day gift!  Head over and check out my tutorial.  It's easy to put together and makes for a lovely handcrafted Mother's Day gift.

Take a little time to enjoy

and

Happy Crafting!

Coiled Sisal Rope Basket with Lid DIY

I know, I know!  There are lots of tutorials on making rope baskets but have you seen one that includes a lid?  Who doesn't love a handcrafted and adorable catchall that has a top to hide it all?  And the best part - it's so easy to make including adding decorative rope accents!

What you'll need:

Sisal rope - 3/8"  100ft roll

Hot glue

Bowl
Parchment  paper or *plastic wrap

Outdoor Mod Podge

Begin by dipping the end of the rope in mod podge to prevent fraying and let dry.  Once dry, coil end tightly in circle, securing with a dab of hot glue and place on a upside down bowl bottom you'll be using to shape the basket. 

Add lines of hot glue along the rope as you are coiling it around the bowl base,  making sure to keep the rope even and the circle flat.

An afterthought was to add *plastic wrap around the bowl since a lot of the glue seeped through. But next time, I'll use parchment paper for a much easier removal and clean-up.

Continue coiling and gluing the rope around the bowl, holding the rope firmly in place as you are waiting for the glue to dry (a few seconds) until reaching the desired height.

Remove the basket from the bowl by gently pulling off the plastic wrap from the bowl and twisting it out. *Use the clean tip of the hot glue gun to remove any excess glue and remaining *plastic wrap that's stuck.

Turn the bowl upside down and continue gluing a "lip" on the bowl (to hold lid), circling around twice. 

Leave about 12 inches of sisal rope on the finished basket and cut off excess.  Make a decorative coil on the outside of the basket and hot glue in place.

To make the lid, use the rest of the sisal rope from the original roll and place the  end in mod podge, as before, to seal.  After drying, make a small loop and hot glue together.

Hold the loop upright and begin coiling the rope around the loop.

Continue coiling in a flat circle pattern, adding glue around the rope.

As a guide to how large to make the lid, I drew around the opening of the basket on parchment paper .  .  .

and continued coiling and gluing on the parchment paper until covering the  circle pattern.

Leave several inches of excess rope and make a matching decorative coil on top.  Glue in place.

And finally, give the basket of coat of mod podge or sealant to control sisal threads and dust particles. 

Perfect for any area where a bit of pizazz and order is needed!

One of my favs!

Take a little time to enjoy

and

Happy Crafting