Little Birdie Secrets

Showing posts with label tip. Show all posts

Wednesday, January 11, 2012

silverware drapery hooks

I am always amazed at how many clever things people come up with. Check out this awesome idea from our friend, Shelley.

Did you know you can use silverware to make drapery hooks? Yep. Here's my bathroom. It seriously needed some color and I found a bag of silverware at Goodwill for $4. I didn't even come close to using it all. Score!

First you'll need to choose the pieces you want. Then using a metal drill bit, drill holes that will fit your screws in the blade of the knife, or the handle of the spoon or fork. Bend them to make the hooks. Sorry there isn't any pictures of the drilling part. Kinda hard to take pictures and drill at the same time.

Mark the corners to make sure they are placed evenly. Drill in place.

I had some super long sheer drapes and used them to drape on my hooks.

Simple and easy! I love it! Thanks for sharing your creative mind with us, Shelley.

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Wednesday, November 30, 2011

easy burlap christmas table runner {tutorial}

I found this pretty red burlap at Hobby Lobby the other day and couldn't resist buying a couple of yards! It's perfect for a quick and easy Christmas table runner with lacy snowflakes. I put this together in under half an hour! This tutorial is for a 90" long runner, which fits my 56" long table beautifully. But you can adjust the length for your table by adjusting the main part of the runner. I'll also show you how to cut burlap so you don't have wonky edges!

Easy Burlap Snowflake Christmas Table Runner Tutorial

Supplies:
*2 yards burlap (I used red, but it would be cute in regular burlap or green, too!)
*Variety of shapes and sizes of crocheted doilies (you can buy them at antique shops or at JoAnn like I did. I've also heard you can find them at dollar stores, although mine didn't have any)

*Fabric glue (I like Fabri-Tac)
*Scissors
*Sewing machine & coordinating thread

1. Before starting, be sure that your burlap has been cut straight. To do this, lay it out on your table and examine the cut ends. If it's not, even it out. Here's a little trick I learned at the cutting counter. To ensure your burlap is cut straight, pull a thread where you want it cut. Pull it all the way out. This will leave a gap in a very straight line that you can use as your cutting guide. Brilliant, right? I had burlap cut at another store where they did not use this method, and I was horrified at how badly it was cut! I lost a lot of fabric trying to straighten it out.

Once your ends are straight, cut your burlap to be 21" wide by 70". Turn the raw edges under 1/4" and hem (so your edges won't fray, because they will!).

2. Cut two pieces of burlap 13" x 35" each for your ruffles. Hem raw edges 1/4".

3. (Pretend I hemmed the raw edges before taking this picture!) Ruffle the long edge by pulling a thread one inch from the top of the 13" side. Be careful not to break it! When you're ruffled half of the length, pull the same thread from the opposite end. Ruffle it to match the width of your main runner piece (about 20.5")

Pin your ruffles to each end, about 2" from the bottom.

Sew your ruffles on about 1/2" from top of ruffle. If you sew along the line where you pulled the thread, you should have pretty straight stitching!

4. Now for the fun part! Arrange your doilies on the runner. I left the center a little open since I will be putting a centerpiece there and they'll just get covered up anyway.

Using fabric glue, dot glue on the back of the doily in the densest areas (so it doesn't go through too many holes). Glue in place. Repeat for all doilies.

Ta-da! That's it! I just need to finish one more project and then I'll show it to you again fully decorated. I love how cheery it makes my dining area!

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Monday, August 15, 2011

back-to-school backpack tags & toy organization tags {tutorial}

Yes, I'm still on a back-to-school kick. Only 3 more days until school starts for us! Hallelujah! Today I made backpack name tags for my boys, and the idea spread to their toy baskets in their room. A little back-to-school organization never hurt anyone, right?

I shouldn't have been surprised when my boys picked the exact same Mario Bros. backpack for school. They're obsessed. But I knew there would be fights over which backpack belonged to whom (at least until school started). I was right. I was inspired by Emily's darling beach bag tags and decided to make them name tags to tell their backpacks apart! I think this will also come in handy at school, because I'm sure there will be a few more of these backpacks in their classes.

I found these plastic badge holders while back-to-school shopping and thought they would be easier than dealing with the self-sealing laminating pouches (which are pretty easy to begin with). I found these for about $2.50 at Walmart.

You could easily cut patterned paper to the size of the badge holder, but I have been loving all the digital papers I've been finding on Jessica Sprague's site lately (she has tons of Cosmo Cricket and Echo Park!). I watch out for my favorites to go on sale on One Buck Wednesdays each week. This is Cosmo's Joy Ride collection. I used Photoshop to size the paper to fit the badge holder, then added a text layer with "this belongs to:" and their names. Easy peasy! You could also stamp the name like Emily did, or use alphabet stickers.

I couldn't help myself--I added a coordinating piece of paper from the set on the back! It was all I could do to stop myself from tying them on with a cute gray ribbon. I went with orange and white baker's twine instead, to preserve the boys' dignity at school.

Once I figured out how easy these were to make, I decided to make a few for the boys' baskets on their bookshelf. I recently found these drawer/box/basket things at Target (on sale!). We use them to keep stuffed animals, electronics, and random toys off the floor. Their playroom is in the basement, but a few things always seem to end up in their room anyway. I tied them on with a little ribbon and voila! No more excuses for a dirty room!

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Wednesday, June 8, 2011

you have to try this {frosting rosettes}

Recently I spotted these gorgeous frosting rosettes on Pinterest and just had to try them. I followed the tutorial by the fabulous I Am Baker, and I am happy to say they were even easier than I thought they'd be!

I helped a friend with refreshments for her daughter's baptism last weekend and whipped these sugar cookies up. They are darling on cupcakes, too, instead of the big pile of frosting (although that's not a bad way to go!) I really think it was quicker to frost them like this than with a knife. And they look so much yummier! Okay, they are yummier because they have twice the frosting, but luckily I don't count calories at special celebrations.

My friend coordinated the cake with the same technique. Isn't it gorgeous? We all thought this would make a beautiful wedding cake!

And it was heartily enjoyed by all.

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Friday, March 25, 2011

scalloped lid treat boxes {the new thank you card}

I'm calling these the new 'thank you' card because I really wanted to make them for my friends who spoiled me on my birthday. A little extra love for their sweetness! And I LOVE this box pattern! If you have a Silhouette machine, you can find it in the online store in Lori Whitlock's designs (LOVE all her stuff). It's this box: adorable_box_4_C00383_20509 2/02/2010. I printed some of the paper using digital paper from Cosmo Cricket and Creativity by Crystal, two of my favorite designers. Crystal's having a sale through the end of March on her darling papers--check out her blog for the info!

Silhouette tip: I resized the the pattern until the bottom part of the box almost completely filled the cutting area. Next I released the compound path. Then I selected the box top and grouped those pieces back together and moved it off the cutting area. This is an important step in resizing. If you resize the top and bottom of the box separately, the top will not fit the bottom when it's done!

Look how pretty this flower looks on top! The recipient of this box gave me a gorgeous bouquet of these flowers to use as embellishments. Isn't that a fabulous idea? And so appreciated! So she got one back. :)

Here is her other gift to me, wrapped up with one of the flowers on top.

Back to the boxes. I added a tag and some ribbon,

and filled the boxes with cookies. Yum!

Thank you, you darling girls, for the best birthday ever!

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Friday, March 18, 2011

raspberry or strawberry free crochet pattern {and a crochet hat head size chart}

How adorable is this little raspberry? My friend Melynie told me she heard that over and over when she was out shopping, but I didn't quite believe it until we went to the grocery store together. Seriously, I don't know how she gets any shopping done when her little sweetie is wearing this hat! We were stopped by so many people who wanted to talk about how cute she was in it.

It started with this pumpkin hat I shared with you in the fall.

I loved the idea of making a hat that wasn't worked in the round. This little strawberry uses the same stitch as the raspberry hat above, but it doesn't have the scalloped edge, and the stem is replaced by little leaves.

I delivered this delightful pink strawberry hat to a friend who just had the CUTEST baby girl--can't wait to see it on her!

Do you love it or what? It's a perfect spring hat for baby. You can find the pattern below, plus a step-by-step tutorial showing how to join a new color of yarn to your project, and a hat size chart you can use to determine how big to make hats for different ages. Happy spring!

Strawberry or Raspberry Crochet Hat Pattern

This pattern is for size 0 - 3+ months. You can adjust the pattern for the size of your choice using the head size chart at the end of this post. Just change the number of stitches and rows until it reaches the number of inches specified in the chart.

Size I/5.5 hook, size G/6.0
Red or pink worsted weight yarn for berry
Green worsted weight yarn for stem
Yellow or white worsted weight yarn for strawberry seeds

Stitches used: Sc, dc, sl st, seed st
Seed stitch: (sc in next st, dc in next st) across

Ch 39.
Row 1: Seed st: (Sc in 1st st, dc in next st) across. Ch 1, turn.
Rows 2 - 28: Seed st: (Sc in 1st st, dc in next st) across.

Your piece should be a rectangle approximately 4" high by 14" long. Continue to scalloped edge if desired, or to finishing step if no scallop is desired. Don't fasten off yet.

Scalloped edge: For a less prominent scallop (like pink example), change to a G hook now. For a more noticeable scallop, keep working with your I hook.

Ch 1, turn. Begin working scallop stitch along long side of piece: (Sk st, 3 dc in next st, sk st, sl st in next) across. Don't fasten off yet.

Finishing:

If you're making a strawberry hat, use a yarn needle and your yellow or white yarn to make small, evenly spaced stitches from back to front to create seeds. On the red strawberry I did a single little stitch. On the pink strawberry I did a tiny "V" stitch. I did a stitch on every other row across and down, creating a diamond pattern. Fasten off.

Inside of hat will look like this:

Next, fold piece in half, matching up short sides and scallops. Holding short sides together, use a yarn needle and matching yarn to stitch short sides of piece together to make a tube (easy way). Or, for a less visible seam, join the ends using your hook and the seed stitch, working sts in end of each row (a little more complicated, but worth it if you're up for it). You should work about 28 sts. Fasten off.

Green top and stem, no leaves:
Change to size G hook.

Round 1: Join green yarn to top of tube with a sc. Sc around top of tube (39 sc worked).

How to join a new color of yarn in crochet:
Insert hook where you want the color to start. Grab your new color of yarn with your hook.

Pull the yarn through the stitch. One loop on the hook.

Now finish your single crochet stitch by yarning over and pulling the yarn through.

It's on!

Now continue on with your sc in the remaining stitches.

Round 2: Dc 2 together (2tog) around (this is a decrease st that will decrease your number of sts around by half).

Round 3: Dc 2tog around.

Additional rounds: Sc 2tog around until stem is at desired width. Then sc in a tiny circle (this can be challenging, so be patient with yourself!) around and around until stem is desired length. Fasten off and weave in ends.

Green with leaves:

Round 1: Join green yarn to top of tube with a sc. Sc around top of tube (39 sc worked).

Round 2: Dc 2tog around until you have 8 sts left.

Leaves: Ch 10. Sc in 1st ch from hk. Hdc in next ch, dc in next 3 chs, tc in next chs, sc in next 2 sc. Repeat 3 more times.

Size Chart for Crochet Hats

0 to 3 months
Hat circumference 11.5" - 13"
Hat height: 4.5” to 5"

3 to 6 months
Hat circumference: 14" - 17 "
Hat height : 5.5” - 6"

6 to 12 months
Hat circumference: 16" - 19 "
Hat height: 6.5"

12 months to 3T
Hat Circumference: 18" to 20"
Hat height : 7"

3 to 10 years
Hat Circumference: 19" – 20.5"
Hat height: 7.5"

Pre-teen to teens
Hat Circumference: 20.5" - 22"
Hat height: 8” - 9"

Womens
Hat Circumference: 21.5" - 22.5"
Hat height: 10"

Mens
Hat Circumference: 23" - 24"
Hat height: 10" - 10.5"

If you make this hat, I'd love to see a picture of it! Oh, and I should mention that all my patterns in my shop are on sale 3 for $9 for a limited time! I'm working on a few new patterns for spring, so stock up on the winter patterns while they're cheap!