Soap re-do

This is what I gave as teacher gifts this year and a thank you to the leaders in our Sunday School class.  I got the idea from here, but tweaked it just a little.

She has a thorough tutorial and its easy to follow, but here are my (minor) modifications.

*I had a really hard time getting some of the labels off, so decided to leave the front one on.  (Keep in mind, I did about 20 of these, and was too lazy busy to be goo-gone-ing (technical term) that many.  The back label came off just fine, so I made the back the front.  

*I did not spray prime these, instead bought spray paint suitable for plastic.  It said no priming needed and I was all about skipping that step.  

*Since you could still kind of see the label in back (even after 3 coats of paint) I opted to punch a scallop circle out of scrapbook paper and modge podge it on to cover the label.  Worked out just fine and had an added touch of color.

I have a handful left over, so will be finishing them in various ways, just like the original.  I'll do one in black with a "G" for our kitchen sink.  I might do them for Valentines day with a big white heart?  I already have the red paint!

Ragamuffin Garland Tutorial

Got a lot of fabric scraps and want to use them up???  This is perfect!!

Supplies:

Jute (or ribbon)

Ring clips

Fabric

Ribbon (optional)

Scissors

A good movie (optional, but will make the process more fun)

How to:

Cut your jute/ribbon 6 inches longer than desired finished length.  Tie each end to a ring clip.

Cut/rip fabric in roughly 1" by 8-12" strips.  I took my fabric and cut it to about 10" (some were more, some were less), then snipped the edge every 3/4"-1" and ripped each strip off.  I like the frayed looked of the ripped fabric.  (I have no idea how many strips, cut I cut and tied, cut and tied, cut and tied...until it was as full as I wanted.)

I also cut extra jute and ribbons that I had in my ribbon jars.  For that matter, I dug through all my fabric and used some warm and soft batting that was too small for any thing else, extra fleece...pretty much anything that was white, cream, red, or green was fair game!

Put your movie in and start tying.  And keep tying.  And tie some more.  You might actually have to get a second movie going...that how long it takes!  I actually separated my piles into like colors and prints.  (Yes, I'm like that.)  I tied in patterns first.  For example...starting on the left hand side, red plaid every 4 inches across the jute...then green solid...then white, etc.  I wanted it too look random, but also not lopsided with color.  At the end, I filled in where needed.

This one is was for sale here.

All that work and you'd think I'd keep it, right?  Nope.

You can do these on wreath forms, too.  In fact, I picked up some at local garage sales and antique stores this summer with plans to make one from extra drop cloth material.

Personalized Christmas Decor

A post from Christmas last year...

After getting our tree up and decorated (in a minimalist way), I decided it needed a little something extra. I've seen variations of these with the numbers 1-25 (but really...who's going to buy 25 frames???) or ho-ho-ho, but I decided our tree needed a little personalization. And since there are 6 of us now, that ought to fill it up, right? Somehow my car managed to drive me to Hobby Lobby this morning, where there table frames were all 50% off. I rarely buy anything at HL unless is on sale, cuz lets face it...sooner or later everything is on sale there! Anyway...this little project only ended up costing $15...and that's for 6! These would be great gift for a teacher or friend or neighbor, since they were $2.50 each. Who doesn't like a little personalization?

Supplies Needed:

Frames,

Spray paint

Paper

Here's what you do:

Disassembled the frames, so they are just the frame part.  Take outside and attack them with a bottle of flat black spray paint.  Let them dry. In the meantime, find a font that you like and print out initials.  Cut into squares, then reassemble with the initials and viola!

Variations:

Vinyl on the glass with a Christmas paper backing

Embroider or cross-stitch initials on fabric

Print on Christmas paper 

I really just stuck them in the tree like that! Next year, I'm hoping to embroider the letters, but we'll see. With "B" coming in Feb, I know I'm not going to have much free time. :)