DIY earband

What to do when it turns out the - I'm sure very effective - Aqua Earband received from the doctor isn't the right size and your child want's to take a little swim in the outdoor pool? Fake one! 

We were given an Aqua Earband by our doctor to keep M.'s ear plugs securely into place, which she needs to wear after having had tubes placed in both her ears. Unfortunately, when we finally ended up at the pool, the band didn't fit (too small). I could see her disappointment, so I had to come up with something really quick. Turned out I had packed my incredibly sexy bathing cap (which you need to wear in French public pools and which are incredibly uncomfortable because they come in one-size fits all and make me feel like my skull will pop off any minute whenever I wear it, which is only when I'm at the pool, let this be clear!). With a mighty snip from the incredibly dull scissors found in our first aid kit, I fixed her a fancy homemade ear band which also happened to fit.

So, in case you'd like to replicate, this is how it goes:

1. Take a silicone bathing cap.
2. Take a pair of scissors.
3. Cut off the top part of said bathing cap.
4. If your child likes to wear a pony tail or braid for swimming cut away a small triangle at the top of the back part of the ear band. This will make sure the band will stay into place and won't start pulling (extensively tested!). Et voila! C'est tout!

Flower power :: a bracelet

I don't know what took me so long to post this. Maybe the fact that this was a craft totally gone wrong at first. It's the same flower as the ones here and here. Only, the leather was of such poor quality that it looked horrendous. Since it couldn't get any worse I decided to wet the leather and shape it (read: wrinkle it, roll it, twist it, ...) and the result you can see. Not the best I've made so far, but it was nice to actually see you can shape leather with just a bit of water (and a lot of patience for it to dry). Next, all I did was threading it onto a leather shoe lace I still had sitting around and that's it!

I'm signing off now and just so you know: I'm taking a short break from blogging.
But no worries, I'll be back soon...

Wishing you a great weekend!

Cheers, P.

Recycled plastic bag pompom flip-flops :: a tutorial

(from the archives)



... or how to turn boring flip flop sandals into a pair of funky pompom slippers by recycling a couple of also boring plastic grocery bags. Summer is half way now, if you didn't get your flip-flops out yet, this is the right moment to do so!

This is a tutorial I wrote some time ago for the online magazine N.E.E.T (check out their June issue here and check here for back issues - the photography in this magazine is simply stunning as is the artwork, and they have a blog too).



I'm posting it again, here, for those of you who missed it and also because I think it's a fun recycling project which you might want to try making with the older child - if you are having summer vacation right now and if you are running out of ideas: Keep on reading!

What you’ll need:

Warning: Choking hazard! Small parts. These flip flops are not suited for young children!

-          A pair of plastic flip flop sandals
-          A couple of plastic grocery bags
-          A piece of card board
-          Pencil
-          Scissors
-          Needle and thread
-          A glass and a coin or a compass

Instructions:

1.        Pompom template:  Make two card board doughnut shaped circles using the glass and coin for tracing. Cut out both circles; next cut out the center. 

2.       Card board spool:  Cut a rectangular piece of card board, the width being slightly less than the diameter of the smallest circle – make a triangular incision at both ends.

3.       Plastic bag string:

a.       Place the plastic bag in front of you, flat. Cut off the bottom seam of the bag and unfold the inner folds. Place the bag which is still tubular flat in front of you.

b.      Start cutting strips going from one fold to the other but leaving a one inch allowance at the top fold. Repeat this over the entire width of the bag until you reach the handles. Cut off handles.

c.       Now, unfold the allowance and slip the bag over your hand with the allowance facing up.  Now, start making slant incisions from strip 1 to strip 2, strip 2 to 3 etc. You’ll get one long strip of plastic bag string.

d.      Wind the plastic bag string around the cardboard spool you made.

4.       Plastic bag pompoms:

a.       Place both pompom templates on top of each other. Using the spool wind the string around the pompom template.  Make sure to cover the entire template. The more string you wrap around the template the fuller the pompom.

b.      When finished, carefully cut open at the top between circles. Carefully separate the circles slightly so you can wind some thread firmly around the strips. Tie a few knots. Don’t cut off the loose ends.

c.       Carefully, slip off the template.  If necessary trim the pompom to give it a nice shape.

5.       Assembling: Place the pompom on top of the strap of your flip flop. Slip the loose ends of the thread through a needle. Now wrap the thread around the strap and, pass the needle through the center of the pompom. Repeat a couple of times until the flower is firmly attached. Tie a firm knot; cut off and apply a dash of glue or transparent nail polish to the knot. Trim the pompom some more if necessary.  Repeat for the other foot and… Done!

Note: If you don't have enough bags of the same color ( you need approx.1 per pompom) use different colored bags and combine them on the spool.

Warning: Choking hazard! These flip flops are not suited for young children!

As with all of my tutorials, please note, this tutorial is intended for personal use only. Therefore, do not reproduce, sell or commercialize in any form without permission. Thanks for understanding!

Inspired by the beach...

... I made this bracelet the other night inspired by the red, orange and yellow buoys on the beach.
Very easy to make if you have needle and thread, seed beads, chips of turquoise and a piece of shoe lace at hand. Just sew the seed beads on, one by one, centered onto the shoelace. When done, go through all the beads in the opposite direction to make sure they'll stay put. Secure with a firm knot and cut off excess thread. Make a slip knot at both ends and there you go: a bracelet - or anklet, if you like.

We're still waiting for the sun to come out here - the last couple of days felt as if autumn was very near (which it is, now that I think of it...)...Hope the bracelet will help to keep that summer feeling alive...

Wishing you a happy week!
xo, P.

Beach, sun and ... a new picnic blanket

 

Finished it last night and we love it!
My first real blanket.A happy blanket.
The girls helped me with laying out the fabric squares, 100 in total. We decided to just randomize instead of going with a regular pattern and it turned out just fine! Only the white fabric with shrimp and water melon among other things, is new (IKEA) - everything else we had, I even went looking in my girls' sewing baskets (light blue/white gingham).
Since I didn't have time for quilting the blanket, I knotted the layers together using embroidery floss. For the inside I used a 100% cotton woven 'molton'.

Let's hope the weather will be good enough tomorrow for a picnic at the beach, so we can break in our new blanket (as no food nor dirty feet were allowed on the blanket until some pictures were taken tonight...)!

Flower power :: a tutorial

I most definitely did not need another purse. As a matter of fact, this week while carrying around a way too heavy purse I made the remark I would so much like to be "free" - I want to live a purse-free life. Why is it that men can leave the house with just a wallet and a set of keys and we carry around entire survival kits? Do I really need all this stuff? Let's face it: right now, I have in my purse

- a wallet
- another purse with change
- keys
- car keys
- sunglasses
- small pencilcase
- handsanitizer
- paper tissues
- several packs of chewing gum
- paper wrappers
- loose change
- organizer (although small, really heavy!)
- MOO cards (that's right! I didn't mention them yet but I ordered some MOO Mini Cards a little while ago - so cute!)
- pass Navigo (Metro travel pass)
- cell phone - which I usually can't find when it rings, because obstructed by all of the above
- a small umbrella
- card holder for store fidelity cards, membership cards ...
- a notebook
- a little pouch with medication and band aids

Surprisingly, I do not carry around any make-up, not even a lipstick.

But seriously: do I really need all of this? When I take out the umbrella you can rest assured it will start raining. And the girls only fall or get hurt when I don't bring any band aids. But one pen would do, wouldn't it, instead of a pencil case. And how about all the plastic cards from stores where I come only once in a while. And the organizer?

With that in the back of my mind and the upcoming vacation I thought I should try to go light again. And is there a better way of doing so with a brand new, cute little purse?

The inspiration for this one comes from a little purse my dad brought me from a business trip to Ohio - I was about twelve when I received it and I still have it. It was just the perfect size to hold a wallet and a set of keys and I used it way into adult life. It was handmade and all seams where sewn with leather strips - something you see showing up everywhere again lately (see also my bohemian belt). Hence the leather shoelace stitched seams. In addition, I decided to have a flower closure and since I liked the rough edges of the leather I chose to integrate these as well into the design. The body of the purse is made out of a single rectangular piece which makes it a really easy project.

What you'll need:

- a rectangular piece of leather
- leather scraps for the flower
- leather shoe lace for binding the edges (2), strap (2), closure and flower attachment (1)
- leather punch
- scissors, rotary cutters
- ruler and marker




Instructions:

1. Cut your leather to size for the body of the purse. ~ pic.1

2. Make flower from leather scraps by cutting two flower shapes, one slightly bigger than the other. Punch two holes in each one (make sure they correspond to each other).

3. About 1 cm from the edge, mark where the holes should come, one every cm. Also punch two holes at the top fold (for the strap), four holes (two by two) near the bottom center for the closure loop, and two near the bottom of the flap for the flower (same distance between holes as in flower). ~pic.3

4. With leather punch, punch holes as marked. However, on the side seams skip the one at the bottom fold (marked with a cross in pic.3 - enlarge picture) on either side (left and right). ~ pic.4

5. Sew seams with shoe lace. Start and finish with a knot ~ pic.5

6. Attach the loop for closure as shown ~ pic. 6-7

7. Attach flower to the flap and secure with a knot at each end. ~ pic.7 and 9

8. Attach strap (I used two shoe laces for that, knotted together) ~pic.8

Designer notes: Except maybe for the punching part, this would be a perfect craft for the (older) kid. If you don't have any leather handy or do not want your kid to ruin some precious leather, try using felt or denim. In the latter case, no punching is required as one can just sew the seams with needle and thread. The flower can be made out of any material, really or replaced by a button.
Use your imagination and more importantly - have fun!

This little purse has exactly the right size to hold a small wallet, keys and a cell phone and will keep me company on the beach, hopefully soon!

As with all of my tutorials, please note, this tutorial is intended for personal use only. Therefore, do not reproduce, sell or commercialize in any form without permission. Thanks for understanding!


If you made something using a tutorial found on this blog or if you got inspired by something you found here, make sure to post your pictures here.

This is so N.E.E.T.!!

Not too long ago, I was contacted by Stephanie at N.E.E.T. magazine. If I would be interested in doing a tutorial for the June issue - preferably a recycling project, something for summer. Did I need to think about that? No, of course not!

So, here it is, the latest issue of N.E.E.T. magazine - with my recycled plastic bag pompom flip-flops among tons of other great stuff. Really, I feel so proud to have my project featured in a stunning and inspiring online magazine like N.E.E.T.! N.E.E.T. has great photography, styling, DIY projects, ... Go check it out!
And make sure to go take a look at page 148 through 151 for some really cool DIY flip-flops! There's even a downloadable PDF... Not to be missed!

Flower petal shoes :: the kids version

It's like the past couple of weeks all I've been doing is packing and unpacking. First for the move. Then big girl M. left on a trip with school (which was great, by the way!). Yesterday little H. left with her class for a trip until the end of the week. And today, before dawn, K. set off on a business trip.

Packing. Unpacking.
Boxes. Suitcases. Backpacks.
Packing. Unpacking.

Result: I'm way behind on blog reading and I have been kind of absent here, too. But, I'm working on it as of today!



So, to start with, here is the kids version of last weeks up-cycled espadrilles. This pair of (really cheap) gym shoes (which they needed for the trip) went in little H.'s suitcase as a little surprise (it became sort of a habit here - we stick little surprises in suitcases whenever someone goes on a trip). All I did, was cut some petals out of the Petit Pan fabric scraps I bought a while ago. I used four petals per flower. Folded and layered them and next, sewed them together, as explained here.
Simple and easy - so, easy a kid could do this as no special sewing skills are required. Perfect as a birthday party craft, if you ask me.

I absolutely like the result and they're SO much little H.
I'm pretty confident she loved them when she unpacked her suitcase!

Creative with espadrilles :: a DIY

I have this love hate relationship with espadrilles. I always loved them because they stand for summer. Whenever they show up you know summer's around the corner. Summer. Sun. The beach. No stress. I also love them because of their simplicity. A shoe can't get any simpler (nor cheaper) than that, can it? A sole and two pieces of fabric joined together.

However, I didn't wear espadrilles for the longest time because of the squeaky sound the rope of my last pair made. Just thinking of it gives me the shivers! So, what made me buy another pair and devote a whole post to them? To be honest I have no idea - I must admit I fell for the gray stitches on the sides, but was that enough to buy them, bearing the squeaky sound of the rope in mind? I guess I just needed another challenge: the espadrille make-over.

I actually had a lot of fun working on this DIY. As a matter of fact, what you see here is only a fraction of the things I came up with. There might be a couple more ideas in the pipeline...
Anyway, let's just start with this handful of ideas. Ready?

What you'll need:

- a pair of espadrilles
- an old T-shirt or other fabric scraps, if you like
- a pair of scissors
- needle and thread

Instructions:

Bow-tie espadrilles



1. Cut a strip from the old T-shirt, about 3-4cm wide and 20cm long.

2. Fold over the strip so the fabric overlaps. With needle and thread, in the middle, gather and secure the fabric. Cut of excess fabric, if any.

3. Fold a small piece of fabric over the stitches, to hide, and secure with a few stitches on the back. Shape the bow tie.

4. Position the bow-tie onto the espadrille and secure with a couple of stitches.

5. Repeat for the other shoe. Wear!


Rose bud espadrilles



1. Cut a strip of t-shirt.

2. Fold in half and start rolling the fabric to form a rose.

3. Secure at the bottom of the flower with a couple of stitches. Shape.

4. Position onto the shoe. Sew into place with a couple of stitches.

Note: the size of the flower depends on the width and length of the fabric. You can play around with both. Or why not make several flowers different in size and color to form a rose garden on your shoe!


Flower petals espadrille



1. Cut three (or more) not so round circles of roughly the same size.

2. Fold them in half and again in half and place all three on top of each other. Pin together.

3. Next, sew them together with a couple of stitches and shape the flower as you go.

4. Place on top of your shoe. Sew into place with a couple of stitches.

Note: Same thing applies here: play with size and color or combine several to form a flower patch on your shoe. Add sequins, beads, leaves, ... if you wish so, or just keep it simple.

 

This is a fairly easy craft, which kids could easily do. It's not very time consuming, no special supplies are required and the reward is immediate.
Maybe a fun craft idea for a summer birthday party!? If you can't find espadrilles right away, gym shoes might work just as well, just as any other ballerina or pair of flats.

My espadrilles have been extensively tested by now. And you know what? This pair doesn't squeak!



Please note, this tutorial is intended for personal use only. Therefore, do not reproduce, sell or commercialize in any form. Thanks for understanding!

If you made something using a tutorial found on this blog or if you got inspired by something you found here, make sure to post your pictures here.

A splash of color

I made this necklace last weekend, with bits and pieces I still had lying around from other jewelry projects - odd pieces of brass chain, gemstones (most of which I forgot the names), liquid silver and glass seed beads, which I love. I used brass eye pins in between. You can't tell from the pictures, but I messed up some of the eye loops - I guess I got out of the habit and I didn't have enough eye pins to start them all over again...
But I do like the result.

I have been wearing my new accessory every single day. It adds a little splash of color to my predominantly gray/beige/white (and very boring) wardrobe.
That and my bohemian style belt which has become another favorite of mine...

Bohemian style belt :: a tutorial

Have you noticed? This summer, it's all about belts. Belts are quick fixes to any outfit, be it chic or casual. This summer, they come in different styles, widths, textures, and colors... I particularly like tiny belts - they add elegance to any silhouette (read: suggest the presence of a waist, even if there ain't any...LOL).

I don't quite remember what exactly triggered this project - was it my new leather punch? - but I had it in mind for quite a while - I just hadn't found the time yet to work it out. But I did now! Hurray to all the cartons unpacked!!

As always, this is a very easy project, which requires very basic sewing skills only. Also, very little is needed. Except for a free hour or so you'll need:

- an old leather belt, or a cheap new one
- fabric scraps, ribbon or bias tape,...
- a leather punch
- scissors
- big needle
- ruler and marker

Preparing the fabric:

From your fabric scraps, cut strips of different lengths. I cut mine about 1cm wide. No need to cut in bias - we like the frayed look on this project! I didn't measure the exact length the strips totaled up to, but my guess is you'll need about three times the length of your belt. If you're not sure, cut as you go.

Preparing the belt:

1. Determine how far apart you want the holes. I used 1cm intervals. Starting from the buckle, with a felt tip, make a mark every centimeter, about 0.5cm from the side. Do this all the way around the belt.

2. On your leather punch, determine which size of holes you want (use a piece of scrap leather or card board to test the sizes, before you start on the belt - the holes need to be big enough to fit the fabric strips through). Now, punch your way around the belt. This is the most and only labor intensive part of this craft, I promise!

Assembling:

1. Thread a big needle with the first fabric strip, tie a knot at the other end. Sew your way around the belt with a whip stitch through the holes. Change fabric strips as you go and to your liking. Don't worry about the lose ends - we will take care of those later - just start with a new strip in the next hole as you change.

2. Weave in the loose ends at the back of the belt, by slipping the needle under a couple of stitches. Cut off what's left. Repeat for every loose end and ...

Done!!
A bohemian style leather belt to give that white shirt and jeans outfit a little color boost!



Notes:

- If you don't have a leather punch, you can find them at most hardware stores, where they'll likely be cheaper than at specialty stores or craft stores.
- Instead of using fabric strips, one could also use different strands of embroidery floss of several colors combined together, leather shoe laces, raffia, ...
- I combined different types of fabric, but of course you could limit yourself to the use of a single color - in that case just cut your strips as long as possible.

Please note, this tutorial is intended for personal use only. Therefore, do not reproduce, sell or commercialize in any form. Thanks for understanding!

If you made something using a tutorial found on this blog or if you got inspired by something you found here, make sure to post your pictures here.

Coin purse, revisited

The same little coin purse, a tiny bit different...
Made it in no time after spotting this (through this post at Blue Moss)...
The shoe lace, charms and jewels, I recycled from this project (I no longer have the phone...).

It's tiny as I used the wrong plate, but definitely cute and more jewelry like, I guess - it fits a couple of coins only. Enough for ice cream on the beach, though...

Fabric and wire flowers :: a tutorial

Though this morning didn't feel like Spring - I was cold the entire trip to school and still am, despite the polar fleece I'm wearing now and the cup of hot coffee I had - we certainly were lucky with the weather lately. Sun! I just love the light the early Spring sun brings! It makes me happy, excited. And it shows in my projects, I believe. Take this fabric and wire flower, for instance. Don't you think it's over the (my) top colorwise?!

It started with one of those kits to make flowers with wire and some colored gooey liquid (I actually think it's white glue mixed with colorants of some sort) which little H. received from a friend for her birthday. While I was helping her out I just started wondering if  maybe I could do something similar with fabric and wire. With Vliesofix that shouldn't be too difficult, I figured - no, I'm not affiliated with Vliesofix, but just happen to have bought a lot of the stuff. So, after buying the Petit Pan scrap bag, everything came together and I made my flower. You've no idea how little time these flowers take to make. It's free style from beginning till end, which I love. I don't like wasting precious time on making patterns, and elaborate preparations before being able to actually do something. In that respect I'm not any different from the average kid - I want instant gratification... (when little H. read on the box she had to wait for at least 12 hours for the gooey stuff to dry and set, she was really disappointed "but it looks dry to me - do I really have to wait untill tomorrow, mommy?").

So, if you want to give that Spring feeling a boost or just want to hold on to that last bit of summer, just keep on reading as here are some instructions!


What you'll need:

- scraps of fabric
- wire, not too thick
- Vliesofix, Bondaweb, ...
- scissors or cutting pliers
- iron




Instructions

1. Determine how many flower petals you want. Cut your petals, freestyle, in pairs,  i.e. cut at once front and back of the same petal by layering your fabric such that wrong sides are facing. Repeat  until you have the desired number of petals.
2. Trace every pair of petals onto the paper backing of the Vliesofix and cut out.
3. Cut wire to length - you'll need one piece of wire per petal. Bend and twist the wire to form a petal shape, using the fabric petals as a guide for size - make the wire petal slightly smaller than the fabric petal.
4. Iron Vliesofix onto the wrong side of its corresponding petal. Let cool down. Peel off the paper backing. Position the wire petal shape on top. Next, place the other petal piece on top, sandwiching the wire in between petal layers. Fuse the petal layers and wire together with your iron. Let cool down. Repeat for every set.
5. Arrange your petals to form a flower. When happy, twist the wires together to form a stem. Note: depending on the gauge of the wire you're using and on what you intend to use the flower for, you might want to twist the wire around a stick or another more heavy wire for support.
6. Once you're done twisting you can start playing with the petals - the most fun part, I think - to shape your flower.

Make a couple and put them in a vase, or twist them together to form a garland. Use them to decorate the dinner table for a festive meal. You could also make colorful napkin rings with these. So many possibilities and yet so simple to make!

Enjoy!

After I made this flower, I found  a similar project in the last issue of Marie Claire Idées. Instead of Vliesofix they use glue, which is slightly more messy, if you ask me...






Please note, these tutorials are intended for personal use only. Therefore, do not reproduce, sell or commercialize in any form without permission. Thanks for understanding!

If you made something using a tutorial found on this blog or if you got inspired by something you found here, make sure to post your pictures here.

Button up for Spring! # 2

I may have sounded a bit too enthusiastic when I announced there would be a second part to the Button Up for Spring from last post. So, let's hope you're not too disappointed. It's just what is: another set of hair accessories for my poor girls, whose mom can't do more than make a pony tail or two, or a braid if she's in a good mood, ... LOL
Blame it to my own miserable hair and the fact I never ever had long hair as a child just because of that reason. In those days it was widely believed that keeping hair short would make it stronger and thicker in the end, just like covering it in egg, while shampooing, would make it stronger, as would rinsing it with beer and shampoo it again - I can tell you: these remedies don't work, my hair's still miserable, but no longer short!

Anyway, when I made these fabric covered buttons, all I could come up with to attach them too was elastic hairbands. Because you see, I had to make my own fabric covered buttons. You see them showing up everywhere and I just had to try it! And they're fun to make!

I bought two kits for covering buttons - I bought the first one a while back but forgot about it and then I had already bought a second one when the first one showed up again in one of my many not so well organized boxes. Good thing (or is it a bad thing - I guess it doesn't really matter) they were of a different size. Anyway!
Last week, I also bought a bag or two of Petit Pan fabric scraps. All excuses are good. Here's mine: I like their designs, I just have a little trouble with color in my own projects. Colors intimidate me. I like colors and colorful fabric, but it also scares me. I can't deal with it, it seems like, too afraid to overdo things, to create chaos or to waste my pretty fabric. The advantage of working with scraps, however, is that with little pieces you can add a little touch of color here and there without it becoming too overwhelming (for me). And I like buying scraps because of the surprise aspect too - it's like unwrapping a present. So, now you know everything!

And how did I make the hair accessories?
It's very simple: First, start by  covering your buttons, however, keeping in mind:

1. to cut your fabric big enough otherwise it will stick out on the sides - I know this because I made that mistake twice (!). Luckily, I managed to open up the button again, bend the metal to its initial form with my mini pliers, after witch I started all over again with a bigger piece of fabric - too bad for that nice little detail that went lost...

2. when using a print where orientation matters, make sure to attach the plastic backing such way that the print points the right way (my apples and pears buttons have a slight twist...)

After covering your buttons, attach them to the elastic hairbands.
How? By sewing them on, of course! I wasn't that smart at first. For the single buttoned elastics, I cut open the elastic (!) and had the hardest time to slide the button on, after which I had to make an ugly knot in the elastic, which the button barely covers - it took me three buttons and a night of sleep to realize my stupidity, go figure! I guess I should stop doing this kind of things after midnight...

Well, that's a long post for just a set of simple hairbands! I hope you didn't mind...

Wishing you a great weekend!

xo, P.

Button up for Spring! # 1

A couple of weeks ago, we had another one of those brocante sales in our neighborhood. I didn't find any Eames chairs this time, unfortunately, but I didn't return home empty handed. I bought the cutest, teeny tiny mother of pearl buttons! I love mother of pearl buttons and buttons in general, though I must immediately add that I don't like making button holes very much, especially not if there are a whole bunch of them as on a shirt.
But who needs button holes anyway, if you can add buttons just like that as a little detail...

My mother of pearl buttons haven't been out of sight really since I bought them - I picked them up from time to time, thinking about the different ways I could use them. Michelle's bobby pins certainly were an inspiration.

So, here are a couple of the button ideas, I came up with so far. All very simple and involving very little supplies: fabric scraps, embroidery floss, elastic hair bands, hair clips, bobby pins, needle, glue and scissors...

Bracelet:

This is my favorite in the lot. Cut a piece of fabric, about 2cm wide and long enough to go around your wrist. Fold in the same the way you would do for making biais tape and sew closed with a whip stitch, if you like. Wind embroidery floss around it in different colors.
Sew on a couple of buttons - and there you have another bracelet...
As easy as 1,2,3 - perfect for the kids to make on a rainy Wednesday afternoon (leave out the whip stitch in that case).

Bobby pin:

Cut of a strand of embroidery floss and tie it at one end of the bobby pin. Start winding the floss around the bobby pin (winding over the loose end to secure, if you like, which I didn't). Change colors as you go. Make a knot when finished with one color and with a needle thread the loose end under the embroidery floss covered part. Next, sew on a couple of buttons, using different colors of floss. Finally, apply a tiny droplet of glue to all knots and loose ends, and to back of the buttons, to secure. Done!

Hair clip:

Proceed in pretty much the same way as for the bobby pin - however, instead of winding the floss around the clip, use a blanket stitch. If you can't sew on the buttons, glue them on (the use of a hot glue is recommended here, as one of my buttons fell of with regular crafts glue).

This is as fancy as it gets when it comes to hair styles and accessories at our place. I have no talent or what so ever when it comes to styling hair. I'm afraid I'll have to disappoint my sweet girl M. as I really don't see how I could make her hair look like this hairstyle she'd spotted on One Pretty Thing... I wonder if a green and white hair clip would do?

Make sure to come back tomorrow, as I have a more buttons up my sleeve...

Spring's here...

... and we love it!

There's lots of yellow everywhere.
Yellow forsythia - we got some in our living room,
yellow daffodils in the courtyard and in many parks, and sold by vendors at metro stations.

And there's yellow in my craft room...
Inspired by this first splash of color after a long winter (is it really over!?): a yellow coin purse with a liberty of London drawstring with a cute daisy print and a moccasin inspired little purse with yellow leather drawstring.



The tutorial is still available here (thank you so much for the many positive comments!) with two additional notes:

- for the moccasin version above: I didn't line this one (which means you can make this one really in no time) and just made a couple of incisions between the two front holes.
- if you're concerned everything might fall out when opening the purse: it pretty much depends on the quality of leather you use. The stiffer the leather the better the purse holds up and hence won't fold open completely upon opening. However, you can use a button or a piece of leather as a stopper if you really want to make sure (similar to the one shown here).

Wishing you a sunny Wednesday, where ever you are!

Cheers,

P.

Simple Drawstring Coin Purse :: a tutorial

I hope you didn't mind the wait and are not disappointed - but I finally got my act together. So, here's a new tutorial for a very easy to assemble drawstring coin purse. As a matter of fact this is so easy it would make a nice little craft for kids too. Just have them use felt instead of leather, or why not oil cloth. I made a whole set of these in no time with just some leather scraps and left over fabric, because what I did is line them using some Vliesofix (I'm not paid by Vliesofix, in case you're wondering, I just like to use it). For the drawstring you can use basically anything you have: biais tape, ribbon, waxed cotton shoe laces, leather shoe laces, hemp string, ...

The nice thing about these coin purses is that you can make them in any size, really. Make them for keeping your change within reach, to keep little secrets, to hide baby teeth under your kid's pillow for the tooth fairy to come, or as an alternative gift wrap for jewelry, Easter eggs, or other tiny goodies.

Here's what you'll need:

- leather scraps - or alternatively, any other material that will hold up, like felt, oil cloth, heavy weight cotton (which won't fray much in my opinion since it's cut in a circle)
- optional: fabric scraps and Vliesofix for the inside
- a plate, a dish or a bowl to trace the circle if you don't have a compass handy Note: for the purse in the above pictures, which is about 6cm wide and 6cm high, I used a dish with a 16cm diameter.
- leather shoe lace, ribbon, biais tape, ... for the closure
- a hole puncher
- iron
- scissors

Steps

1. Trace plate, dish or bowl on the wrong side of the leather. Trace the same circle onto the paper backing of the Vliesofix, if you decide to line your little purse. ~ pic. 2
Note: for the purse in the picture I actually used the wrong side of the leather for the outside because I liked the number stamp on the back so much, the contrasting blue against the taupe color of the leather - and 43 also happens to be my age - double strike!

2. Cut out, however leaving an extra margin when cutting the Vliesofix. Iron Vliesofix onto the fabric. ~ pic. 3

3. Gently pull off the paper backing from the fabric. Do not throw away the paper backing as you'll still need it later. Iron the fabric onto the back of the leather. Next, trim the edges. ~ pic. 4

4. Take the paper backing and cut out the circle you traced onto it earlier on. You will now make 12 holes in it, about 1.5 to 2cm from the edge, and equally spaced out around the curve of the circle. In order to do this somewhat precisely, however without doing the math, what I did was fold the paper circle in half, next unfold again, punch holes at each end. Fold again, perpendicularly onto the first one (to make quarters), next fold open again and punch a hole on either side. Next, fold again, unfold, punch hole - basically you fold the paper same way you would cut a pie in 12 same size pieces. Once you've punched the twelve holes, place the paper on the wrong side (the lined sized, if you lined it) of your leather circle and mark the 12 holes with a pen. ~ pic. 5

5. With your hole puncher, punch the holes, using the marks as a guide. ~ pic. 6

6. Thread your ribbon, leather shoe lace, biais tape, ... through the holes. Pull both ends so to make folds and close the circle.
Et voilà! You just finished a cute little coin purse!

Please note, this tutorial is intended for personal use only. Therefore, do not reproduce, sell or commercialize in any form. Thanks for understanding!

If you made something using a tutorial found on this blog or if you got inspired by something you found here, make sure to post your pictures here.

DIY Japanese tape

Ok - you may want to classify this DIY idea under 'totally ridiculous', 'totally irrelevant', 'totally useless', whatever... but please, do keep on reading.

This idea just popped to my mind while I was cleaning up my messy crafts table and my eye fell upon
- my double sided tape, which was still sitting there after doing this post and hence has started collecting dust already which is not so good on double sided tape
- and a stack of security envelopes (you know, these envelopes used by banks, insurance companies, telephone companies, utility providers which usually contain bills).

And since anything's better than cleaning up a messy table on your birthday, I said to myself:
'How about making some (not so) Japanese masking tape and writing a tutorial!'
Why would one make his/her very own tape, you ask me?
- because the real stuff doesn't stick
- because it's late at night, stores are closed, you ran out of fancy tape and you need to wrap that present, so you are desperate to find a tutorial to solve this problem this instant!

Well keep on reading then as I have something for you - As a matter of fact it won't take more than a couple of lines to explain.

What you'll need:

- double sided tape
- security envelopes, or by extension: paper with a nice print (magazines, origami, wall paper, ...)
- cutting board or if you don't have one, a ruler, pencil and scissors

Instructions:

1. measure the width of your double sided tape
2. cut your paper in strips same width as your tape
3. make a guess of how much fancy tape you'll need
4. rip off a piece of tape, same length as your guess in step 3
5. stick tape to the back of your paper strip - cut off excess paper
6. Use to wrap your present!

That was easy, wasn't it!? And again the possibilities are endless.

Now, if you were wondering about those little boxes that I have used in at least two posts - I have twenty three (23!) left as they were part of an advent calendar we received from a big and generous company - some boxes still have a little chocolate inside as we made our own advent calendar and never got to finish this one.
I might try a couple of chocolates now, actually. It's my birthday after all, and since my table looks even messier now than it looked before anything's better than...

(munch, munch...)

Note: If you're interested in crafts using security envelopes check out this post with a non-exhaustive list of security envelope based crafts. Feel free to add more links to similar security envelope crafts in the comment section of today's post!