Book Page Pomander Tutorial

So, I've been busy...on Pinterest...yes, I know it's a surprise. While pinning away, I realized I was not really seeing what I wanted to create. Now, that's not to say it hasn't been done before, but none of my followed pinners were giving me what I wanted to see! And so the next tutorial was born...

Vintage book pages are everywhere in DIY right now, and I knew I wanted to use them in my shelf re-style seen here. Of course, how to use said pages was not decided immediately, but after looking at my collection of re-style elements {mostly garnished from other areas of my house!}, I badly needed something to "round" out the collection. A pomander would work beautifully! For those of you who don't know ~ and really, who would?? ~ the word pomander comes from the French pomme d'ambre, or apple of amber, and is typically a fragrant ball of flowers believed to be an early form of aromatherapy. Anyway...

This pomander will not be scented, though you could use scented paper if you wish.

Supplies for this project are fairly simple:
~ pages from an old book
~ styrofoam ball {mine was about 2 inches}
~ straight pins
~ flower shaped paper punch {size depends on how big you want the flowers and how big your ball is}

You can change just about anything with these supplies to make endless variations. Really the only constant would be the styrofoam ball and some sort of pins to secure the paper to the ball. I originally thought about using these pearlized head pins I found at JoAnn, but they were really too big for my small-scale project. If you're making a larger pomander, these would be a great option. For me, another time...

Begin by punching about a million paper flowers. No really, a million and one. Well, ok, not really a million, but you need quite a lot. You can always punch more if you run out.

For the next step, I found that it was easiest to work on the couch...nice, huh?! Grab a small bunch of flowers and spread them out on your couch cushion or armrest. Stick a pin in the center of each flower. If you don't want to work at the couch, you could always bring a pillow over to your work space. But trust me, this is the easiest method for stabbing and grabbing the delicate paper flowers {think how thin a book page is ~ this is what your flowers are like!} When you pull the pin out of the cushion, the flower will stay on the pin and ready to by stuck in the styrofoam.

I doubled up on some of the flowers to provide dimension, but you also want to slightly countersink the pin so the petals of your flower pop up off the ball a bit. Just use the tip of your fingernail to push the head of the pin in a little further, or a toothpick works well also. Continue placing flowers with edges close together. Don't worry if there's some styrofoam showing ~ you can cover this with single flower if needed.

Tip: If you're using a colored paper (not book pages), you may want to paint your styrofoam ball first. This will help ensure there are no white spots showing!

To hang the pomander, cut a length of ribbon, loop it, and glue or pin it to the ball. Add a bow or other embellishment to hide the end of the ribbon if you wish. Enjoy!

Burlap Boxes

Thanks to our recent addition {sweet baby!}, we really have a profuse amount of boxes collecting around the house. They're such nice big, sturdy boxes that I have a hard time tossing them in the recycling! The other weekend I decided to do something with these boxes and, Bam!, the burlap boxes were born. The boxes you'll see in this tutorial are actually flat boxes I received when we were going to cancel our Dish service -- lucky for them they fixed my bill, so I kept the service - and the boxes! They fit perfectly on the shelf under our coffee table and I use them to store Elisabella's toys for now. Another fairly easy, very forgiving project.

Of course, start by gathering your materials:

• cardboard box {thicker cardboard = stronger box}
• burlap {or other fabric - amount depends on box size}
• 2" ribbon
• scissors
• box cutter or xacto knife
• hot glue gun
• LOTS of hot glue sticks

Cut the flaps off your box using the box cutters or xacto knife. This is pretty easy to do if you have a sharp blade; it might be worth your time to insert a new one if the current blade is dull. Hold the knife at an angle right at the base of the flap and slowly pull or saw it forward. If the bottom flaps are crooked, pull off the old packing tape and straighten them out before taping back up. The bottom of your box will not be covered, so if you like things nice and pretty, better take a minute for that step! Also, if your box is colorful, you may want to apply a coat of latex or spray paint to neutralize those colors - they will likely show through the burlap {or other fabrics}. My box was plain brown with some black lettering, which ended up being fine without paint.

Once the top flaps are gone, take a rough measurement of the height of your box. Cut strips of burlap with a width 1/2 inch narrower than that measurement. The strips don't have to be perfect - especially with burlap {it stretches nicely!} The number of strips you need depends on the size of your box and the length of your burlap. I ended up needing 2 strips per box and was easily able to do two boxes with 1 yard of burlap.

Attach the first strip of burlap by laying down a line of hot glue on one end. Quickly press the burlap into the glue, making sure it's secure. Also make sure that the burlap lines up fairly close with the bottom edge of the box. It's ok for there to a gap at the top edge - this will be covered with ribbon. I stood my box on a chair so it was easier for me to work with while I was getting started. Once the strips were partially glued, it worked for me to lay it flat on the table.

This is a messy  job - and if you don't have fingers of stone from burning yourself with hot glue more times than you can count, a pressing tool {say a pencil or marker??} might be handy!

Continue wrapping the burlap around your box; put down about a 6" strip of hot glue, then press the burlap to secure. Wrapping in small sections ensures your glue won't harden before you can secure the burlap.

When you get to a corner, apply glue along the entire edge and make sure to pull the burlap tight. Then continue to wrap around the entire box.

Overlap the ends so you have a nice straight finished edge. Glue it down securely.

Now for the messy{er} part. Since burlap is a loose weave fabric, it tends to "shed" quite a bit. To even out your bottom edge, and reduce the amount of burlap hair floating around your house, use your scissors to trim flush with the bottom then run your fingers back and forth over the trimmed edge to encourage any loose fibers to fall out. I even pulled a few that were barely hanging on.

What you're left with is a decent amount of mess on your work surface -- but better there than floating around the house {or waiting to be popped in the baby's mouth...}.

Your wrapped box is nearly complete! To finish the top edge, glue the ribbon all the way around the box, keeping your line straight. When I did this the 2nd (and 3rd and 4th, etc) time, I glued the center of the ribbon to the top of the box first - this gave me a little more even edge on both sides of the box {instead of just a straight edge on the outside}. If you look at the last photo, you can see the uneven inside edge - yeah, that doesn't work so well for me! Ah, live and learn...

So that's it! Your burlap box is ready to be admired! And better yet, it's ready to be used for some pretty storage of an otherwise cluttered mess!

Before & After: Shelf Re-Style!

When we moved in to our house almost 3 years ago, the shelving unit in the living room just seemed awkward to me...it still does a little... :o)

Since the move, it's just become a random collection of mismatched "stuff" that has shown up over the years. So, last weekend I decided to change all that! It's still a work in progress, but much better I think! What do you think??

The lighting is certainly better in the after picture {hey, who doesn't love a little bias in photography!?}, but I still think the overall effect is much more appealing! And the best part -- I spent about $5 on the whole thing! Most of what I brought over I had elsewhere in the house {mainly from my garage sale and thrift store addiction}and of course some pieces were totally DIY {stay tuned for tutorials!}

Just time for a quick post today...must share the computer with the teenager preparing for upcoming finals! I do have some tutorials to share for some of the deco on the re-styled shelves, so I'll be back soon!

Yarn-Wrapped Letters

So pretty...so simple!

Gather your supplies for this project:

• cardboard {corrugated, like from a shipping box, works best}
• pencil or marker
• scissors
• yarn
• hot glue gun & glue
• craft knife {if you have a center to cutout}
• embellishments {optional}

The first thing you need to do is draw or trace your letter on the cardboard - you know me, I like it simple, so I just freehanded this "R." These lines will be completely covered, so you can draw with anything. Then cut out your letter, using the craft knife to get the center cutouts, if you have them. Don't worry if your letter isn't perfect ~ this is a very forgiving project!

Begin wrapping your yarn on a straight edge ~ trust me, this is easiest! Lay out a short strip of hot glue and immediately press the end of the yarn tightly into the glue. Continue to add hot glue around the bottom until you have completed one loop.

After the first loop, you don't need to continuously add glue. Just keep wrapping the yarn around the cardboard, but make sure to maintain some tension in your yarn ~ you don't want saggy letters!

When you get to a cut out, you'll need to snip your yarn so you can pull it through the hole. It doesn't matter what length you cut; you'll likely need more any way. Continue to wrap, wrap, wrap. 

If {when} you run out of yarn, simply glue it down like you did to start and add a new piece. I do try to end on the back {just cut it if needed}, but really you can't tell at all. So if you forget ~ no problem! {remember how I said this was so forgiving...?!} 

Ok, for the curves...I like to fan out a bit at this point. There will naturally be a slight bulge on the inside of the curve, which I think gives character to the piece and would not want to do away with! To keep this as even as possible, complete the curves in wedge sections.It works well to go back and forth in each section, making sure no cardboard is showing before creating a new wedge section. {If you look closely in the picture below, you can see the sweet little hand of my ever-present helper ~ love you, Elisabella!}

The rest of the project is just wrap, wrap, wrap some more...really it goes pretty quick!

When you're all finished, you can use your gorgeous wrapped letter in a project, or just as a stand alone decoration perhaps on a shelf or side table. I used mine in this framed project I created for our front entry way. Happy crafting!

Pretty Little Headband

Would you like to make this pretty little headband? It's super simple - even for a newbie! Of course, if you don't feel like making this fun accessory, you can see my Bella Rose Designs line at The Fringe and buy one for yourself!

Gather your supplies:

• ribbon
• elastic band (pony tail holders work great, too!)
• scissors
• flexible measuring tape
• fabric  scrap
• small felt scrap
• hot glue gun
• flower template - I just freehanded mine on a piece of cardboard. The size of your template depends on the size you would like your finished flower to be. Mine's about 2".
• embellishments for center of flower (optional)

Cut a strip of fabric a little wider than your flower template and about 20" long. You may need a longer length if your flower template is bigger than 2". Cut your strip in half and fold each half in half, then in half again so you have two 4-layer squares {I'm only showing one square in the picture}. Yeah, that's a lot of "half" work... :o)

Next, you can either trace around your template and then cut, or just hold it in place while you cut - I like the second method...saves a bit of time!

Cut each folded strip, resulting in 8 flower shapes.Don't worry if any of the flowers don't turn out perfectly {see how the bottom flower is flat on the right? - no problem!} 

Fold each flower in half and place a small dot of hot glue next to the folded edge, about in the middle of the half-flower. 

Then fold in half again to form a triangle shape like you see below. Squeeze the point to make sure the glue adheres.

Fold the felt scrap in half and cut a circle about 1/2" smaller than the size of your flower. You can trace a circle, or {I prefer} just freehand it - doesn't have to be perfect!

Put a small drop of glue in the corner of a flower triangle and attach to one of the felt circles, trying to put the point of the triangle in the center of the circle.

Glue the remaining 3 triangles to your felt circle - keep matching the points to the center and keep your lines straight. This will make your flower more even when finished!

Add the second layer of flower petal triangles, overlapping the seams. Push down on the center of the flower to make sure everything is attached securely. Glue embellishments to the center of the flower, if desired.

To Make the Headband

Cut a length of ribbon long enough to reach from the top of your left ear to the top of your right ear. I've found that 13-15" is a typical ribbon length {in case you're making a gift!}. Cut about 7" of elastic, or cut a pony tail holder at the seam and trim to 7" if needed.

Lay the ribbon right side down on your table and add a thin line of hot glue about 1/4" long at one end. Immediately press one end of the elastic into the glue. Fold the ribbon over the elastic, adding a bit more glue if needed.

Be sure to add the glue on the same side of the ribbon on each edge so the seams don't show! Now the "hard" part is done!

Add a smear of hot glue about 2-3" up from one edge of the ribbon {for a side flower; add to the center if you want your flower right on top}. 

Center the flower on the ribbon and press to adhere. Flip the ribbon over and add the second felt circle to the back for a nice finished look. 

Slip on your new pretty little headband and enjoy the compliments!

Experiment with lots of different fabrics, ribbons, flower sizes and embellishments

to create a different  accessory to match all your styles!
{Here I'm wearing my favorite - burlap and felt - love it!}

Ready...Set...Launch...

After much procrastination, I have finally decided to launch my blog! The inspiration for this crafty endeavor is sleeping soundly in her crib, but I know she's as excited about this day as I am {smile}. Though most in my family think I'm crazy for being so infatuated with everything crafty, I find it to be a great break for my brain and a fun way to spend spare seconds. Yes...seconds...that's about all I have these days!

So, to my mother and my sister who are constantly wondering where I came from, I hope to prove that I'm not crazy...just another crafty blogger. Ah, but I suppose I must admit I'm excited about having an "excuse" to create!

And so it begins...