Momma Sew Crafty: December 2011

Tuesday, December 27, 2011

Scollop Banner Tutorial

Although it is after Christmas, I still wanted to post this because, well, there's always next Christmas! Also, this banner can be done in any colors/patterns so get creative and make one for your next party or holiday! There's New Years, Birthdays, Valentine's, etc., this banner is perfect any time of the year. And let me just mention it is a GREAT beginner sewing project!!! It was actually the first time I sewed something other than a straight line!;-) And I did so many scallops it was good practice. This was not the quickest project, but it was not very difficult and, like I said it, made for great practice! I'm the type of person that doesn't like to just "practice", so having a goal/project in mind is right up my ally!

Let's get started!

First, I drew a scallop shape on the back side of my fabric. If you don't feel comfortable doing it freehand, look for something in your home to trace. But the nice thing about this project was the scallops did not have to be perfect.

I cut it out and used it as my template to do the rest of them. Here are two all cut out to make one scallop!

Then I placed them facing each other...

It was almost time to sew, but since I did them freehand I held them up to see if they were even and did a little trimming in spots where they were not.

Time to sew! I did a couple back stitches at each end to ensure they would not come apart when turning them inside out.

Here it is all sewn together! Not perfect, but you can't tell once you turn it inside out.

See...one nice scallop!

I ended up making 18 scallops (half red, half green) to cover my mirror above the mantel. As you can see there is an unfinished edge, but it will be taken care of once we sew it on to the ribbon!

I pinned 6 scallops at a time to thin white ribbon. Then I got to sewing! I went very slowly sewing this part to keep it lined up and centered, but do what you're comfortable with! And I took the pins out as I went since they held more securely pinned sideways and not straight up and down.

I left gaps in my banner so there would be room to tape the ribbon up on the sides...but after much rearranging, I ended up cutting them all separate to make hanging a bit easier!

What do you think? Are you going to try it? Keep in mind you could do one long banner to hang across the mantel or down your stair banister? I'm pretty sure my inspiration for this project came from here:

http://tatertotsandjello.com/2011/11/thanksgiving-countdown-bunting-tutorial-and-28-grateful-activities.html

Hers is neat because it has pockets you put activities for the family to do together in! Maybe I could add some pockets to mine and make an advent calendar?? We'll see!

Tuesday, December 20, 2011

Christmas Mantel!!!

It's here folks (finally)...my Christmas mantel!!! I so badly wanted to post this weeks ago, but have been getting the finishing touches in place. At least it is before Christmas, right? And maybe you can get some inspiration for next year;-) Without further ado...

So...what do you think? Over the top isn't it? Lol...well this is the time of year you can be over the top I say! It's funny I actually set out to do a red and silver mantel inspired by last year's Christmas tree and by all those cute mantels I've been seeing with silver and white candles and candle holders...but I ended up with mostly red and green!! Owell, I really love how it all came together. It all kind of started with the big silver plate in the middle and then the red and green fabric took over with the trees and banner and last I had to have the Holiday Hanging Trio from Willow House because the colors just brought it all together! Here's some more pics and a rundown of where I got everything.

I'll be doing a separate post with the banner tutorial so check back for all the details on it.

From left to right:

-I purchased the silver candlestick holders from Goodwill a few months back for $3.93. I got the red ornament balls from Target last year.

-The small glass dome is a recent purchase from Outrageous Interiors around $11 (not a steal, but super cute and I can use it anywhere!) I had the ornaments, china plate, and candle stand on hand.

-Click here for my Christmas Tree tutorial.

-My biggest bargain find was the large silver plate from Outrageous Interiors sale table for $3!!!

-I had the small glass cylinder container on hand. I purchased the red sparkly twine-looking balls from Target for $10. I actually went looking for cranberries, but no luck. I thought these were even better so I splurged a bit. The snow was $5 for a box! I thought that was great since I considered ordering some from Pottery Barn and I know I wouldn't have been paying no $5!!;-)

-I purchased the apothecary jar several years ago from Z Gallerie. And it's filled with the same ornaments from the dome on the left and there's some more snow inside.

-You can read all about my red candle holder here. I'm so glad I was able to use it! And I bought the green candle a few months back from Hobby Lobby. It goes in my dining room, but the color matched too perfectly not to use it!!

-The Holiday Hanging Trio from Willow House was on sale for $13. They are large, thin, metal ornaments. When I saw them online they looked more like normal ornaments to me, but when I got them I was pleasantly surprised! They were a great deal and I can do so much with them!!

-The greenery: I bought two strands of garland from Michaels on sale. I think they were around $7/each. Not a steal, but at least I didn't pay the original $12/each. And I also bought a couple sprigs of greenery and cranberries that you see sticking out of each end from Hobby Lobby for around $1/each. It gave it a more full look since the garland didn't quit reach each end of the mantle. I Also ended up cutting the garland so it would be a little easier to work with. The greenery around the candlesticks were actually my MIL's. She used them when she had the sconces in her home! More on that here. We both could not believe she still had them and they are in pretty good condition! They are supposed to go around the bottoms of small candles, but she was clever and cut the plastic so that she could wrap it around the part of the sconce that comes out at the bottom of the mirror. She placed the back up against the sconce and pushed it down so that it wrapped nicely around the bottom part that sticks out. She showed me a picture of hers and it looked really cute! I wanted to decorate the sconces and thought a napkin ring would be cute and would fit. But then I found some small red candle base decorations (not sure what to call them?) at Hobby Lobby for a few bucks to put around the bottom of the candlesticks. So when my MIL gave me the green ones I was inspired to get creative with them (thanks Denise)! I played around with the ones she gave me and ended up placing them underneath the small red ones upside down so they look like a little skirts for the candles! I loved it!!

Now for the Mistletoe Balls!!!
I saw these mistletoe balls on sale at Michaels and just adored them...somehow I came up with hanging them from my stairs so they would hang down in the entryway.

I love how they look from our living room!!

You can see in this picture how I hung them from the stair rails. I was going to get fishing wire, but I found some clear jewelry wire that worked just the same!

Merry Christmas everyone!!!

Thursday, December 8, 2011

Christmas Tree Tutorial!

I was loving all the cutesy trees on Pinterest so I decided to make some of my own! They are proudly displayed on my Christmas mantle!! But you will have to wait just a bit longer for that debut!;-) Anywhoo if you like what you see and want to make some of your very own here is a step-by-step tutorial of what I did. This project was fun, easy, and didn't take very long at all!

I picked up some Christmassy fabric that stood out to me at Hobby Lobby and also a couple of Styrofoam cones, and ruffly ribbon. The foam cones were a little pricier than I had hoped (I think $5.99 & $6.99), but I did use a coupon so that helped. My SIL told me they have them at Wal-mart so check that out for a cheaper price. I also read here how this lady did hers with poster board!! So cheap...I'm so going that route next time!

Step one...gather your Elmer's white craft glue, fabric, and cone(s). I simply laid my cone at one edge of the fabric leaving a little room at the top. I put glue along the edge as shown below:

I lifted the fabric towards the cone and pressed it down. Next, I put glue along the other side:

Then I rolled the cone onto the glue...

I repeated this rolling and gluing method until it was fully covered in fabric. But I actually rolled and glued some more so the fabric would be glued to fabric assuming it would stick better to itself than the Styrofoam.

After that, I cut roughly around the cone freeing it from the rest of the fabric (not worrying about being neat).

Next, I cut as close as I could to the tree, but I didn't worry too much about a straight, clean line. I knew I was going to put ribbon over it and could always have that part be the "back".

Then I laid my trees out to dry. I put them on top of a cardboard box because I could feel the glue coming through and didn't want to mess up a nice surface. I let them dry overnight, but I'm sure they would be fine after an hour or so. I didn't have a chance to work on them until the next day, but I also wanted to make sure the glue was good and dry because I was a little afraid it wouldn't stick very well. But it did and I was so glad!!! I didn't want to use hot glue as I was afraid it would melt the Styrofoam, so I was thrilled good ol' craft glue worked!

It was time to trim the tops and bottoms! I cut the bottoms along the edge until I had smooth, clean lines...I suppose wrapping the fabric around the bottom and hiding the Styrofoam may have looked a bit nicer, but I wanted them to sit flat so I went this route.

As for the tops...I snipped the fabric until there was about an 1" left and folded it down section by section until it was flat (about 3 sections) and hot glued them on top of each other. It's not the neatest, but it did the trick! If I had pins with red or green balls at the top I probably would have pinned it down. Just another idea:-)

Sorry I didn't get any "during" shots of doing the ribbon...it was probably the trickiest part. I did use hot glue for the ribbon since it was being glued to the fabric and not the Styrofoam. I started at the top and wrapped it down the cone. My method was doing a dot of hot glue and then wrapping the ribbon a little ways and another dot of hot glue and so on and so forth. It was challenging getting the ribbon evenly spaced and angled right. My green tree is a little better than than red tree. But I like how they are different and I like to think of my red one as "whimsical", lol!

So there you have it ladies and gents - custom made Christmas Trees!! Stayed tuned for the matching banner tutorial!!!

Oh Christmas Tree, Oh Christmas Tree!

Monday, December 5, 2011

GIVEAWAY!!!

Yay, my first giveaway!! One lucky person is going to win this adorably cute candle holder from Hobby Lobby!! If you read my last post here you know that I'm really into candle holders lately and finding creative spots for them in my home! Where will you put this beauty if you win? Perhaps a small nook somewhere or in the bathroom (remember all that over the potty talk, lol)? Here it is shown hanging on the wall:

Here's how to win:

1.) Follow my blog
2.) Leave at least one comment on ANY post.

I will literally be drawing names out of a hat to pick the lucky winner next Monday! I will be announcing the winner in this same post so check back in a week! Make sure I have a way to get back in touch with you...if I don't have your contact info. please leave your e-mail address in your comment.

P.S. If you already follow my blog and have commented before, you are automatically entered to win:-)

Thank you and good luck!

And the winner is........Congratulations Robin!!!

Lindsey