DIY Shabby Chic Bird Cage

One day I was in Joann's and saw this:

I fell in love with the idea but knew I wanted to do it a bit differently. 
By the way, Joann's has a ton of craft ideas both in store and on their site. Check it out!!

This is what I used along with some cardboard and scrap fabric. 
I found the birds at The Dollar Tree and that great scrap fabric ribbon at Hancock's. 

Step 1

I cut 2 pieces of cardboard and hot glued them together.
Then I wrapped the pieces in the scrap fabric and hot glued it down.


Step 2

Next, I hot glued a piece of ribbon at the end of the floral wire and wrapped it up, hot gluing the end as well. 
I did that to about 5 pieces of the floral wire. 


Step 3

I inserted 2 pieces of the wrapped floral wire into the cardboard.
Then I hot glued one bird to the bottom of the cage.
Next, I took clear thread and tied it to the other bird. After that, I tied it to the top of the cage.


Step 4

Then I inserted the rest of the wrapped wire.

Next, I hot glued the scrap ribbon along the bottom of the cage.

I then took a different color scrap ribbon, twisted it and glued it around the outside of the middle of the cage.

Lastly, I took a small flower and hot glued it to the top. 

ALL DONE!!!! A sweet, shabby chic bird cage!!!! Perfect addition to your spring home decor. 

So, what do you think???

I know, I know... The blog title says sewing and schooling but I love a little crafting, too!!! I'll be getting back to sewing tutorials VERY shortly. I have a few ideas that I want to try out for Cailey and Colin. 

HAVE FUN CRAFTING!!!!!

DIY Easter Egg Centerpiece

I had SO much fun making these!!!!
I first got the idea from a present I bought The Hubby for Valentine's Day. I got him one of those candy bouquets from Kroger. They had candy bars taped to skewers stuck down in styrofoam with deco mesh in a vase. 

For the first one I did (the one on the right) I used the left over parts of that candy bouquet, the styrofoam and deco mesh. 
Then I bought 2 bags of plastic eggs in 2 different sizes. 
I also grabbed some floral wire and fabric scraps (obviously I decided to use some different scraps LOL). 

The eggs I bought already had holes in the tops and bottoms. PERFECT!! Except the wire wanted to go all the way through. :/ 
I grabbed my trusty pal,  the glue gun, and put a little hot glue on the inside of the tops of the eggs. Now they don't slip all the way down. 

Then I just inserted the eggs on wires into the styrofoam (the deco mesh was already there). 

Next, I set the whole thing in the middle of the scrap fabric. 
Pull the fabric up around the sides. Gather it at the top and tie with ribbon.

ALL DONE!!!!!!!

Now, I did that one before I realized that they make eggs on sticks.... Really CUTE eggs on sticks.... SO when I saw those really cute eggs on sticks, I knew I had to make another one!!!!! 

I bought 2 bags of eggs on sticks in 2 different sizes, deco mesh, bobby pins, paper grass stuff, a rectangle piece of floral foam,  and those little eggs that I didn't use. 
$6 for the stuff that I used!!! CHEAP!! Oh, yeah.. I got it all at the Dollar Tree. ;)

Cut a piece of deco mesh (the size is up to you) and twist the center. Secure that by pushing the bobby pin through it in a couple of places.

Insert into the floral foam. 


Now, just stick in those really cute eggs on sticks!!! 

Next, place the floral foam on your scrap fabric. Wrap the fabric and hot glue in place.

Bunch the top of the fabric around the top of the foam and tie the ribbon!! 

ALL DONE!! Now you have some really cute Easter Egg centerpieces that will be irresistible to your cats! Trust me on that one. ;) 

Oh, see those cute bunny ear candles??? A splurge from Yankee Candle. They were toooooo cute to pass up!!!

Oh, and that table runner???? Next week's tutorial!! ;)

So, what do you think???

Any questions??? Don't be afraid to ask!! I am not always as clear as I think I am in my instructions. ;)

HERE COMES PETER COTTONTAIL!!! Are you ready for the bunny?????

DIY No Sew Easter Door Hanger

This project is SO easy!!! It takes less than an hour and NO SEWING required!!!!! 


What I Used

Felt - 5 pieces of white, 2 pieces of pink (the pink felt made the center egg)
Scrap fabric (made the eggs on either side)
Scrap ribbons (for the felt egg and to hang)
Double sided Heat N Bond
Hot glue gun (or fabric or tacky glue)


Step 1

Cut your fabric and Heat N Bond to fit the felt.

Step 2 

Follow the directions to apply Heat N Bond to the fabric and 1 piece of felt.
Repeat for the 2nd piece of felt. (Both pieces go in back of the fabric)

Repeat for the other fabrics and/or felt.

Step 3

Glue your ribbons onto the solid felt (or fabric).


Step 4

Cut all 3 pieces into egg shapes.


Step 5

Glue the eggs together.


Step 6

Glue ribbon to the back for hanging.


ALL DONE!!!!

How easy was that????? 

Now, you CAN zigzag stitch around the edges with coordinating or contrasting thread but it really isn't necessary. 

If you have any questions, feel free to ask! :)

HAPPY EASTER!!!!! HAPPY CRAFTING!!!!

Easy Valentine's Day Decor

I have a SUPER fast and SUPER easy project for you today!! I did all 3 jars and the table runner in under an hour!!! AND I got everything but the fabric at the Dollar Tree! EASY! FAST! CHEAP!


The Table Runner

What I Used-

1/4 yard of printed Valentine's Day fabric (from Joann's)

1/8 yard of plain red cotton

Pinking shears

STEP 1

I measured out the length and width that I wanted for my runner. 


STEP 2
Then I cut it using my pinking shears. (No need to hem it!!!!)


STEP 3

My iron threw up on my fabric. ;)

Then I pinned the red down the middle of the print and sewed it on with a straight stitch. 


ALL DONE!!!!! I told you it was quick and easy!!! 


The Jars

What I Used 

I got the glittery heart stickers, foam heart stickers and chenille stems from the Dollar Tree! 

Step 1

Cut the fabric pieces with pinking shears to the size of your jar.


Step 2

Hot glue the bigger piece to the jar. 
Then hot glue the smaller piece of top of it.


Step 3

Hot glue ribbon around the top.


Step 4

Stick on the sticker.


Step 5

Since I had small jars, I cut the chenille stems in half.
Then I stuck the foam hearts on top. 

ALL DONE!!!

See how easy????


              HAVE FUN CRAFTING AND SEWING!!!!!!

DIY Jar Luminaries

SIGH... I really should have borrowed Deanna's game for this shot. (We got her an awesome Nikon for Christmas.) My stupid old iPhone stinks!!!!
ANYWAY, I have been wanting to try this out for a very long time. It was super fast and super easy. I did both in 15 mins. LOL 

This is what I used - 

2 left over sauce jars
1 bag of epsom salts
Regular school glue
Foam brush
2 bags of clear plastic gems from the Dollar Tree
1 pack of 2 fake tea lights from the Dollar Tree
1 thing of silver glitter washi tape
2 plastic white trees that came off of our Christmas crackers
Something to dump the epsom salts in

HOW TO:

Add a little water to your glue.

Take the foam brush and add the glue to the sides of the jars. I found that dabbing worked better than brushing.

Roll the jars in the epsom salts. I poured some out into the green tray.

Add the washi tape to the top of the jars.

Dumb the clear plastic gems inside.

Add the fake tea lights. 

Glue the little plastic trees on the rim.

Voila! All done!!! 

All in all, these cost me about $6 to make. You just can't beat that. I had everything sitting around the house except for the washi tape, fake tea lights and plastic gems. 

I then made a table runner out of opaque fabric with little flecks of silver on it. Looks a little bit like snow and ice. PERFECT for your winter home decor!!! 

SIGH.... I really need a real camera. I wonder if Deanna would notice if hers went missing?????


HAVE FUN CRAFTING!!! And if you have any snow, send it my way, please!!! ;)

Crafting with BBCrafts

I am very excited to bring you my first sponsored post. I was contacted by BBCrafts and was offered $25 worth of product in return for my honest review. 

I was able to pick the products for myself. YIPPEE!!!

First, let me say that BBCrafts has more than just ribbon. They have a variety of crafting supplies from tulle to tablecloths, from ribbon to organza bags!

My first reaction upon receiving my box was just how heavy the spools were. You know, usually the actual size of the spool doesn't really matter because it's mostly cardboard anyway. Not with these! The spools are FULL!! No thick cardboard centers!! 

The next thought I had was about the look of the ribbons. I was thoroughly pleased with all 3 but most especially the light burlap with orange sparkles! SPARKLES and BURLAP in one!! Heaven!!!

Now on to quality. I have used ribbon from tons of different stores and I have to say, with all honesty, this stuff was the best. They don't feel cheap or skimpy. They were all easy to work with as well.

Now, on to the crafting!!!!

I love cinnamon brooms but they don't look very pretty by themselves. 

This was so easy to make over. I think it took me all of 5 minutes! 

Just grab your ribbon and hot glue it to the top.

Twist it around the handle and hot glue it at the bottom.

Make a pretty bow and hot glue it wherever you like!

This was my next project, prettifying my plain storage bins. 
Another 5 minute project that makes a big difference.
I hot glued the dark burlap around the bin. Then I added the orange chevron on top. Last I glued on a pretty fall flower. 
Perfect for a fast fall update for your home decor!

I promised y'all that I would never post about a product that I didn't believe in and I have actually turned a few companies down. THANK GOODNESS BBCrafts was as good as they claim to be. I don't know what I would have done otherwise!!

Go check out all that BBCrafts has to offer. Tell them I sent you! ;)

                     HAVE FUN CRAFTING!!!!

DIY No Sew Burlap Valance Tutorial

I am very excited to bring you this SO SIMPLE, SO EASY tutorial. I am loving the way it turned out!!!

We moved and got new furniture so I needed something new for our windows. Our living room window is 9 ft long!!! And we have this amazing view that we didn't want to completely block. What to do.... AH!! A valance! But not just any valance! A chocolate burlap valance!! 

Thank goodness Hancock's was having a 50% off sale!! I bought 7 yards of chocolate burlap for about $25!! Enough to do the valance and a straight panel for the other living room window.

I have sewn with burlap before and while it's a fairly easy fabric to work with, it makes a HUGE mess going through a sewing machine. That's when I decided to go no-sew with them!

I bought fusible bond for heavy fabrics.

This was my first time using the fusible bond so I was a little nervous at first. I should not have been. It was SO FREAKIN' EASY!!! You just iron it right in, it couldn't have been more simple. 

For my 9 ft window I used about 4 yards of the burlap. It had a very wide width so I decided to turn it sideways and use the width as my length, if that makes sense.... In other words, the selvage became my hem. 

All you do is cut the length of fusible bond that you need and place it between the fabric. Add a hot iron and VIOLA! You have a hem!

Since I was working with such a ginormous piece, it took several cuts of fusible bond.... LOL 

This is what the hem looks like afterward. 

For the space where the curtain rod goes, I just measured and folded the top over. Then I placed my fusible bond on the edges and ironed. 

Easy Peasy!!! 

After I put the valance up I took some gold toned ribbon and looped it under the valance, tying it at the top. 

I have to say that I absolutely LOOOOVE it!!! The Hubby thinks I should pull it up even more. He wants to see more of the view. 

I am still trying to decide if I like the other window.... It just looks a little wrong to me somehow. If I figure it out I'll post about it and let you know!!!