Little Birdie Secrets

Showing posts with label ribbon. Show all posts

Monday, November 14, 2011

thanksgiving autumn wreath idea {tutorial}

I've had to curb myself from putting up Christmas decorations already, so I decided to do some fall decorating to tide me over. I needed a fall wreath, and I didn't want to spend too much, so I threw together a really simple one with a grapevine wreath and a few fall picks. But it needed something. I loved the plaque hanging in the center of my Halloween wreath, so I decided to run with that idea. I love how it turned out, and how easy it was! If you need a quick, easy, and inexpensive fall or Thanksgiving wreath idea, this one's for you. . .

Fall Wreath With Frame Tutorial

Supplies:

*Grapevine wreath
*Fall floral picks (a lot of craft stores have these on 50-60% off in late summer or after Halloween!)
*Floral wire

*Wire cutters
*Wide ribbon

*Distressed frame (or thrift store frame you can distress yourself)

*Words or phrase cut from vinyl, or printed on patterned paper

*Coordinating scrapbook paper for frame

1. I started with my wreath. Arrange floral picks (fall leaves, pumpkins and squash, orange and yellow berries, etc.) along bottom corner of grapevine wreath. When it looks the way you want it, attach picks to wreath a piece of floral wire. Just wrap the wire through part of the wreath and around the pick and twist the two ends. Cut with wire cutters.

See--easy peasy!

2. Create your framed fall phrase. I started with this awesome frame from the thrift store (sorry, I forgot to take a real "before" photo!).

3. I used the idea from this tutorial on Lella Boutique to distress my frame. First I sprayed it with a white spray paint/primer. Then, using my Martha Stewart custom spray paint tool, I sprayed it with a yellow/tan acrylic paint.

The next step is to sand it to distress it and bring out some of the color underneath. See the white and the brown? I love it.

Then I applied a light coat of wood stain and let it sit for a few minutes. Then I wiped it off with a paper towel.

See how the brown parts are a little darker, and the entire frame is a bit more rustic looking?

4. I cut the words "Give Thanks" with my Silhouette machine, along with a little leaf. (The font is from Creating Keepsakes and is called CK Woodbine Swashes, and the leaf came from the Damask Dings1 font). You could also use phrases like "Happy Fall," "Gather Together," "Friends Welcome Here", etc. Use transfer tape to transfer the letters to the glass. NOTE: if you don't have a vinyl cutter, you could always print the words on the patterned paper and put it behind the glass--it would look just as good!

Cut a piece of patterned paper to fit inside your frame and place it behind the glass.

5. My frame had a hanger on the back, so I inserted the ribbon through it to hang it from the wreath. If your frame is not equipped with a hanger on back, try threading the ribbon through the frame before you put the glass in!

Tie the ribbon to the top of the wreath. I added a double bow because my ribbon wasn't as wide as I would've liked it to be. I hung my wreath from a Command Hook (they're strong and removable!) that I added to my front door. Happy fall!

I can't believe Thanksgiving is only 10 days away! If you're looking for last minute fall and Thanksgiving ideas, check out the collection of our past posts, found at the top of the page. Enjoy this fabulous season!

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Wednesday, August 24, 2011

13 handmade cards, 1 sheet of paper {pretty much}

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Jessica and our friend Melynie (with help from a few others) gave me the most delightful pink cupcake baby shower before I left Seattle. So many cute friends came to wish us well, and everything from the food to the decorations to the favors were blissfully perfect.

It's a good thing I got that pink shower in, because we found out last week that we're having ANOTHER BOY! So between the two birdies, we will have six boys. Don't worry, I have nieces, so the girlie crafts will keep coming. ;)

Anyway, I haven't had a chance to sit down and write thank you gifts to all the wonderful ladies who came to my shower, and of course I can't buy thank-you cards (that goes against my very identity), so I sat down last night to make up a bunch of quick *but cute* handmade cards. Out of one sheet of paper. Well, pretty much. Here's how it went.

I started with a pack of plain white cards and envelopes from Hobby Lobby (that cuts out a ton of time cutting and scoring all my card stock). I ran it through my Sizzix with the Small Dots embossing plate from Stampin' Up, just to give it a little texture (I am not capable of 100% simple, people). See those cute little raised dots?

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Tuesday, December 14, 2010

easy christmas card hanger tutorial

Is it feeling like Christmas at your house yet? We had a major wind/rain storm in the Seattle area last night, and when I walked out the door this morning, I was greeted with the smell of Christmas trees! Never mind that it's because the storm blew evergreen branches all over the neighborhood. It smells like Christmas! Yea!

Today we're celebrating the fun of Christmas cards over at Make and Takes with our Holiday Card Garland Tutorial. It's a cute and simple way to display all the cute holiday cards you receive in the mail this time of year.

If you haven't sent your cards out yet, don't fret--there's still time! Go on over to Tiny Prints and order some, quickly! Right now they're giving $10 off order of $75 or more with code AFF75, or $10 off $49 for new customers with code AFFNEW!

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Monday, August 16, 2010

travel clipboard chalkboard tutorial

It's almost time for my kids to go back to school! Such a bittersweet feeling. Summer has been too short, but it will be nice not to have to come up with activities for the boys 24-7. So in the spirit of back to school AND looking for a fun summer activity, we came up with these fun clipboard chalkboards. You can also clip some paper to them to make drawing on-the-go easier. They're perfect for road trips or church, or for practicing those ABCs!

Clipboard Chalkboard Tutorial

Supplies:
*Wood clipboard, any size
*Chalkboard Paint (we like Plaid's Chalkboard Paint that comes in lots of colors)
*Foam brush
*Embellishments (optional) - patterned paper, ribbon, buttons, letters, etc.)
*Mod Podge and foam brush
*Exacto knife and cutting mat
*File or sanding block

1. Paint the entire wood area of the clipboard with chalkboard paint, following the manufacturers instructions. Lift up the metal clip to get underneath. If paint gets on the metal parts, simply wipe off with a paper towel while still wet.

The Plaid chalkboard paint says to paint a layer in one direction and allow to dry for one hour.

Then paint a layer in the opposite direction and allow to dry for 24 hours.

2. Once your paint has cured, you can embellish your chalkboard with paper, ribbon, buttons, etc.

I laid my chalkboard on top of my patterned paper, on top of my cutting mat, and cut around it. You could also trace it and cut around, but that's just one more step!

3. Apply a thin layer of Mod Podge on the back of the paper and glue it in place. Smooth out any wrinkles with the side of your hand.

4. Lay your chalkboard face down (you'll have to let the top edge with the clip hang over the side of the table to do this). Using your craft knife and cutting mat, trim any excess paper from the edges.

5. Turn your board back over and sand the edges with a paper file or sanding block.

6. Next I cut my boys' names out of card stock using my Silhouette. I love this font from Creating Keepsakes called CK Racer because almost all the letters are attached--you don't have to glue on individual letters! (Man, I sound laz-y, don't I?)

First I Mod Podged them on,

then I put a thin layer of Mod Podge over the entire paper section to seal the letters and the paper.

7. After the Mod Podge dried, I hot glued a piece of coordinating ribbon to cover the seam between the paper and the chalkboard.

8. Before you use your chalkboard, you must season it. To do this, cover the entire chalkboard surface with chalk, then erase.

Later we also tied a piece of chalk to piece of jute and tied it on the clipboard so it's always handy (see cute pic below). I've found the colored chalks work a lot better on these than white for some reason. I think they're softer.

I couldn't help but get a little crazy with the girl version I made. I pulled out my Scrap Box ribbon organizer and cut 4" pieces in several colors.

Then I tied them in the hole in the center of the clip. For some reason the boys didn't want any ribbons on theirs. Go figure.

I also used my favorite ruffled ribbon technique to make the ruffle on the girly chalkboard.

That's it! Get those little ones ready for back to school with a little chalkboard fun!

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Thursday, August 5, 2010

how to make a hair bow - reader submission

This tutorial is one we've been talking about doing for ages. Luckily, a reader submitted it for our reader submission post this week, so we didn't have to do it ourselves! We will have another great tutorial tomorrow on how you can use these bows for babies with little or no hair, so stay turned. Until then, enjoy these detailed instructions on how to make a hair bow with ribbon from Little Lizard King!

Here's a quick how-to-hair bow.

Supplies needed:

Needle

Thread

Ribbon

Alligator Clips

Hot Glue and Glue Gun

At least 1 cute little girl

Thread a needle.

Take some ribbon.

Create one loop with the ribbon.

Make a second, equally sized loop. My two loops are about 5" across. There is not a right or wrong size regarding the length of your hair bow. Pinch the ribbon in the center. Do not let go.

Repeat. You should now have two layers of ribbon per loop.

For a different effect, create three loops.

Push the needle through the center point of the ribbon.

With the needle poking through the ribbon, spread out the loops of ribbon to create an X.

Push the needle entirely through the ribbon. Do not let go of the ribbon.

Pull the needle through the other side.

Repeat. Push the needle back through one side of the ribbon.

Pull the needle out the other side.

This is an optional step. Loop the thread around your ribbon two times.

Pull the thread tightly to pinch the ribbon in the center. If you do not want a pinched center, do not complete this step. I typically do not complete this step if I am creating layered hair bows. Wrap the thread around the pinched center two or three times.

Regardless of whether you pinched the center of the ribbon or not, push your needle through one side of the ribbon, and pull it back through the other side.

Do this two times.

Cut your thread. If you stop here, it looks nice to glue a small 2-3" long piece of 1/4" wide ribbon around the pinched center. If you are using a wider ribbon, cut the ribbon to size and heat seal the raw edges using a lighter.

Add a strip of glue to the thin ribbon .

Attach the ribbon to the pinched center of the bow.

Back to the tutorial.

If you want to layer your hair bow, repeat the aforementioned steps.

Arrange one bow on top of the other according to your preference.

Glue the two bows together with a hot glue gun.

Repeat with other types, sizes, and colors of ribbon.

Add embellishment or bling, if you desire.

Use a lighter to heat seal the ends of each raw edge of the ribbon. This prevents the ribbon from fraying.

Cut a piece of ribbon approximately 4-5" long.

Add a strip of hot glue down the center of the entire ribbon.

Beauty supply stores sell 100 alligator clips for around $5. You can also buy them on Ebay and probably Etsy. It is shocking how fast you fly through 100 alligator clips. It's insane. Buy more than one pack.