DIY Hanging Wall Chart Tutorial - No Saw!

Hey guys, you might have noticed I've had a cheeky week off blogging this week. I've been trying to put together the finishing touches on our wedding album using Blurb, and it seems to be taking up a huge amount of time! Nevertheless, it shall be perfect when it is finished!

Anyway, I have had time to complete a project for the lounge which I have been meaning to do for some time, hurrah!  In this post I talked about how I planned to make a wall hanging out of a beautiful piece of wrapping paper I bought. I wasn't looking forward to it to be honest, mainly because the DIY I had planned to follow involved sawing, staining and screwing, none of which I have the equipment for!

But thanks to a trip to the Hobbycraft shop, I figured out a way to do it without any of that stuff at all! Namely, the discovery of balsa wood! And so, with this revelation, I thought I would share the 'no saw' (get it!?) process with you!

If you want to give it a go here is what you will need;

• Poster/Wrapping Paper - I got mine here
• Double sided sticky tape (good quality)
• 4 strips of Balsa Wood. ( I used a thinner piece for the back so that it would hang more flush against the wall - 0.4 x 2.5cm balsa wood, and a thicker piece for the front - 0.6 x 2.5cm balsa wood)
• String
• Brown watercolour paint
• Craft Knife and ruler

Ok, so the great thing about balsa wood is that it is so lightweight, and can therefor be cut using a regular craft knife! I started by measuring all of my pieces carefully, marking them all slightly longer than the poster edges, then cutting them all to size.

The other great thing is that the wood is so soft, you can sand the rough edges once this is done using a nail file! Or if you are more prepared you can just use sand paper ;)

I wanted to make the wood look more expensive, but I didnt have any wood stain, so I simply mixed some dark brown watercolour paint with water, and painted it that way. I think it came out really well!

Once the wood is completely dry (I used a hair dryer to hurry this process along) you need to put your double sided sticky tape along both pieces of the wood that will go on the bottom. Make sure you put the sticky on the side you don't want facing out.

Then you will need to pull the top coat off of the sticky on your thinnest piece of wood, and line it up under the back of the bottom of the page. You do have to be quite careful here and it is a bit tricky.  I marked on my piece of wood where is should come to so that it wouldn't end up wonky. Then peel the top coat of sticky off the other piece of wood, and again, line this up really carefully on top of the other piece, with the poster sandwiched in between.

The top of the hanging is a little more tricky because you need to include your string in it.  I wanted to use yellow string, but I didn't have any, so again I used my trusty watercolours to dye the string!

I took a length of string and made sure that it would be the right length to hang at the height I wanted it.  Then I tied a knot at each end so that when it was sandwiched in between both pieces of wood it would make it a bit more sturdy.  

I then repeated the process of putting sticky tape on the wood for the top, and I worked out how my string would sit on the thinner piece of wood (because you want the knot to come out of the back), when I was happy with it I added another layer of double sided sticky tape on top.

Then I just stuck the wood to the poster as I had done on the bottom!

And Tadaa, it was finished!

This cost me less than £20 in total, which I think is pretty decent.  Unfortunately the Balsa wood is quite expensive, but its still cheaper and much easier than using proper wood, so I think it is a winner! I'm chuffed that I have now hung the first picture in my lounge, I can't wait to get the rest up and show you them!

Laura xXx

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Doughnut Pin Cushion Tutorial

Since I made my doughnut collar the other week, I have become slightly obsessed with doughnuts! And this led me to creating my very own doughnut pin cushion! It could actually be used for a number of things, not least just sitting there and looking pretty, but as I have now taking up dress making I have been in desperate need of somewhere to store my pins!

You will need;

• Felt - Brown an Pink (I chose to use 2 shades of brown)
• Matching embroidery threads
• Variety of coloured embroidery threads (for the sprinkles!)
• Stuffing
• My doughnut template which you can download here. Make sure you download it before you print it otherwise it will come out a different size.
• A needle
• Pins
• Scissors
• Beads (optional)

Print out my template and cut it out, then pin it to each piece of felt in turn, and cut out.

When finished you should have 3 doughnut shapes like this;

The pink is going to be the icing, so you need to trim this a little around the edges to make it look like the picture below;

Now pin the pink felt on to the darker brown felt, and start stitching them together with 2 strands of the pink embroidery thread, using blanket stitch. If you aren't quite sure how to do this you can see a tutorial here.

Then stitch around the edge of the brown felt using the matching thread and blanket stitch. Keep it even and as tight as it will go without puckering. You can see a tutorial on how to stitch blanket stitch on an edge here. I'll explain later why we are doing this.

Add your sprinkles! You can use whatever coloured embroidery thread you like here, and even beads if you fancy it! Make sure the fabric stays flat and doesn't pucker as you stitch. 

The next bit gets slightly complicated.  The way we are going to attach the lighter brown felt to make the bottom part of the doughnut, is by using blanket stitch again. But, remember how we stitched around the edge of the darker brown felt earlier? This was so that we would have something to stitch on to, so that we can join both pieces together.  So start with the inner circle and do your blanket stitch, hooking it into a stitch on the other piece of felt each time.  It's quite important that you try to keep the stitches as even as possible to make sure they match up.

Take a look at the picture below to see what I mean. I just used some scraps of fabric to illustrate the technique more clearly to you, the stitches are a lot bigger than you will sew them.

Next you need to stitch the outside circle together in the same way, but once you have done about a quarter of it you need to start stuffing it as you go, so that it is distributed evenly across the whole doughnut. It needs to be pretty densely packed, but make sure your seams don't pop open too far.  As long as your stitches were quite small this shouldn't be too much of a problem. Keep on sewing and stuffing, sewing and stuffing until you get back to the beginning, then tie off and you are done!

Here is what the finished product should hopefully look like;

I'm super happy with how it turned out, and I shall look forward to my sewing projects even more now!  I kind of want to make a whole box of doughnuts this way, but I don't think I have enough pins to necessitate it! Can you think of any other uses they could have?

I think this would make a great gift though, and they could be made in lots of different colours. What do you think?

Laura xXx

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DIY Felt Doughnut Collar Tutorial

The other day I bought a massive bundle of felt, and ever since I have been having crazy ideas of creations I could make with it. So here is my first crazy creation! (no doubt there will be many more to come)

Doughnuts are pretty good right? I mean, they taste good, but they also have the potential to look rather lovely too! Whilst mulling over felty ideas, the thought of a doughnut collar popped in to my mind. I envisioned a bite having been taken out of said doughnut, which would form the front of the collar. Luckily I had the perfect coloured felt to start putting my idea into action, there's nothing better than a pink doughnut, I'm sure you will agree!

I thought it would be nice to take you through a step by step tutorial, so if you like it, you can make your very own!

You will need;

• 1 sheet of pink felt and 2 sheets of brown felt (A4 size). You can use one lighter and one darker brown if you prefer to give the top a baked golden brown look!
• Embroidery threads to match the pink and darkest brown felt.
• My doughnut template which you can download here (you will need to download this to computer first and then print it to make sure it is the correct size.
• Scissors
• Pins
• Your choice of coloured embroidery threads (to make the hundreds and thousands) 
• Beads (optional) 
• A button

First of all print out the template, cut it out, and check that it will fit your neck. If it is too big/small, now is the time to alter it! Once you think it is a good fit, simply pin the template to each piece of felt in turn, and cut out.  So eventually you will have one pink and 2 brown doughnut shapes (as shown in the 'supplies' picture).  The pink one is going to be the icing, so you now want to cut this out in a slightly more wiggly fashion, as shown in the picture above. Leave one piece of the brown fabric aside (the lighter one if using 2 shades), as we won't need to use that for a while, it will essentially just be a backing.  

Pin the pink felt onto the darker brown felt, and then, using 2 strands of the matching pink embroidery thread, we are going to stitch it on using blanket stitch. If you haven't used this stitch before you can find a tutorial here. Try and keep it as even and near as you can. If you haven't done it before it might be best to practice on some scrap felt first.

Felt tends to warp a bit when working with it, so once you have finished this stage you may want to trim the edges of the felt to make sure they both match up.

Now for the really fun bit, the sprinkles!  You can use whatever colours you want for this but in the end I decided I wanted to stick with just white sprinkles. Embroider these evenly but randomly across the pink felt,  making sure that the fabric is not puckering in any places as you go.

I found some little blue beads in my craft stash and I decided to embellish the collar with some of these as well.  I used one single blue embroidery thread to attach these. At this stage, it doesn't matter that the back of your brown felt is getting a bit messy with stitches, as this will be covered later with the lighter brown felt.

Once you are happy that your doughnut is perfectly embellished with sprinkles, it is time to make a fastening.  Now you might want to try your own method of fastening, since mine was a bit trial and error, but it seems to work pretty well, I'm just not sure how durable it will be in the long run.

I started off by picking a button from my extensive button collection. It was a tough decision but in the end I went for a simple little while one.  Then I tied a knot in some thick embroidery thread, making a loop around the button. I tied it so that the button could just about squeeze though.

Next I stitched my loop onto the collar, underneath the pink felt, so that it would not be seen from the outside. The button will be stitched on right at the end of the process.

Now we just need to finish it up by taking our lighter piece of brown felt, and pinning it to the back, then trim the edges if needed to make sure they all line up, and again we are going to blanket stitch around the entire edge of the collar. This is slightly different than before because we are sewing 2/3 pieces of fabric together, rather than sewing one on to another, but it is the same principle. Use the brown thread on the edge with the brown felt, and the pink thread on the inside edge and at the bottom.   

Now all you need to do is sew on your button and you are done!

Here is what it should look like when you have finished...

I am super pleased with how it turned out, what do you think?

I really enjoyed sewing this and it has given me lots of ideas for other felty embroidery projects. Have you ever made anything from felt?

Laura xXx

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DIY Quote Pennant - I've Got Blings!

Hey chaps! Today I want to try something a bit fun.  I'm currently on the hunt for pretty things to hang on the wall in my study, so I thought I'd give making my own little pennant a go.

There were so many quotes I could have used, I thought about all the usual motivational ones, but in the end I went with something that had tickled me recently and would make me smile every time I looked at it.  A couple of days before we and been to see the film Chappie, which is about a robot which develops a consciousness, but essentially he has to grow from a child. Unfortunately he is being brought up by a bunch of pretty gangsta' criminals, so he learns a lot of funny stuff. At one point they give him some chains, and he gets very excited that he's 'got blings!'  It was a very cute and funny moment, and its definitely a film worth seeing, Chris and I have both said it has been our favourite film so far this year by far.

Anyway, back to the DIY. It's a pretty simple one, all you will need is the following;

• Your choice of coloured card
• A paper straw
• Sticky letters. (I got mine here)
• String
• Pencil
• Craft knife and ruler

First up we need to cut the card into the right shape.  The one I made measured 18cm by 25cm, then to cut the triangle in I drew a line on the back 8cm up form the bottom, and then marked the halfway point (9.5cm) and drew lines to join it up to the bottom two points, then I cut it out with my craft knife and ruler.

Next, you want to very carefully cut as straight a line as possible through one side of your straw using the craft knife. Then measure your piece of sting to about 75 cm, and thread it through the straw. This is how you will hang your pennant.

Then you can simply slide your card inside the slit you have made in the straw. It should hold it easily, but if it feels loose you may want to stick it down at the edges with some glue. Lastly you just need to arrange your sticky letters into your chosen quote and you're done!

Now it is hanging happily in pride of place on my pin board alongside lots of other film and TV related goodies!

Laura xXx

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DIY Tutorial - Faux Cowhide Rug

I created todays DIY to decorate my kitchen for an Apres Ski themed party! I wanted to get that 'winter cabin' look, but after doing some research I found that the faux cowhide rug I was after would cost me upwards of £70, so I set about making my own imitation! Here's how you can make your own...

You will need;

• 2 metres of white/cream lining fabric (I bought mine from The Range and it cost me £9)
• Scissors
• Brown acrylic paint
• Paintbrush
• Bowl

First of all you need to cut your fabric into a realistic shape.  To to this I folded the fabric in half, then drew a rough outline onto the fabric using a picture of a real rug I had found online for reference. Then I cut through both layers of fabric at once ensuring both sides were roughly even. After this I ironed it to get out the creases and ironed in one crease down the middle.

The lining fabric is actually a good substitute for cowhide, although it is thinner, it does seem to have a leathery feel to it.

Next I mixed my brown paint with some water in a bowl.  The fabric is thick enough so that the paint doesn't really seep through (unless you make it very watery!) but to be safe I folded the fabric back on itself as a safety barrier to the floor!  Again I used my online picture to reference while I was painting. You may want to have a couple of sizes of paintbrush, one to do the details in the outline, and  a bigger one for filling in the gaps!

Depending on the thickness of your paint you may need to give it 2 or 3 layers. Then all you need to do is let it dry, after which it is ready to be placed either on the floor, as a wall hanging, or over the back of the sofa!

What do you think? Would it pass for the real thing? Perhaps not on close inspection, but it definitely added something to my cabin feel!

Laura xXx

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Easy DIY Halloween Mask Tutorial

As Halloween is fast approaching (cue scary photo of me above), I thought I would take the opportunity to share a Halloween mask DIY that takes only the most basic supplies! If you ever find yourself in a hurry to make an outfit, then check your crafty cupboard to find it bare, this one is for you!

I've drawn out 3 mask designs for you which you can choose from. Download thebatman mask hereand thecat and bandit masks here

All you need to do is print out your favourite onto plain A4 paper, cut out along the black lines, then grab the following supplies;

• A Black Bin-bag
• Packaging Tape
• Scissors
• Elastic/ribbon
• Pen

Start by opening the bin-bag out flat onto the table. Then cover an area big enough to fit your mask in, with tape going vertically. Once this is done we need to make it thicker, so we are going to repeat the same process but this time place the tape horizontally. Keep layering until you feel that it is thick enough. I used 3 layers on mine, but they could have done with a couple more.

Once you think it is thick enough cut out the taped area. The side of the bag that we didn't tape to will fall away and you can just discard this.

Then draw around your mask template and cut out.

When you turn it over you should have something that looks like one of the below;

Then simply add your elastic or ribbon, throw on a bin bag cape and you are good to go! 

I hope you enjoyed that little Halloween themed DIY. What are your plans for this Halloween?

Laura xXx

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