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9 posts categorized “Crafts”

February 15, 2013

More bracelet tutorials

Once again we have some wonderful bracelet tutorials for She's Worth It! Jess from If Only They Would Nap made an awesome felted wood cuff and Vanessa from Designs by Sessa made a fabric covered bead bracelet. Thank you SO much for putting your time and effort into this, everyone! I can't wait to start receiving your bracelets!


Fabric Covered Bracelet Tutorial by Designs by Sessa


Felted Wool Cuff Bracelet tutorial by If Only They Would Nap

How great are those? Interested in more bracelet tutorials? Check out the others from our She's Worth It team. Or look at our She's Worth It Pinterest board for dozens of ideas!

Have you decided what you're making yet?

February 15, 2013 in Crafts, DIY | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBack (0)

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February 12, 2013

How to make a simple bracelet

If you’ve been inspired to do something for the She’s Worth It campaign but don’t know where to start here is a simple bracelet tutorial for you! Just learning about She’s Worth It? Start here.

Continue reading “How to make a simple bracelet” »

February 12, 2013 in Crafts, DIY | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)

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January 29, 2013

Easy Valentine Heart Frame tutorial

Last year I had to make a dozen valentine crafts for a party I attended. It took me forever to figure out what to make. But I finally decided to make these cute Valentine Heart Frames. With a little spraypaint, fabric scraps and a mini clothes pin you'll have a sweet fram that's perfect for teachers and friends!


Supplies:

  • 5×7" picture frame
  • Spray paint (optional)
  • miniature clothes pin
  • 7×9" fabric scrap for background
  • 4×4" fabric scrap for heart
  • hot glue

Continue reading “Easy Valentine Heart Frame tutorial” »

January 29, 2013 in Crafts, DIY | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBack (0)

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March 13, 2012

A Child’s Art Display Wall

Finding away to display the art of a young artist can be a difficult process for most families. Maybe you've got a great system for saving the gems and tossing the rest but I've not found that method yet. I allow my kids to save or toss as they'd like, taping artwork all over the walls and windows where they see fit. My oldest is especially prolific. She even keeps a roll of tape in her room so she can tape things everywhere. She just turned 7 and for her birthday I gave her a little room makeover and included a fun art display wall. Something that looks fun and allows for creativity without looking crazy and cluttered. 

Here is the room before:

Does this girl have food on the brain or what? Fortunately, the room isn't all food art. She has lovely things hanging all over the ceiling too. 

Needless to say, this girl needed a gallery wall for her masterpieces. So here it is, the new improved gallery wall:


I had three criteria for the art wall. First, it had to be safe. She doesn't need heavy frames falling on her in an earthquake and glass was out of the question. Second, it had to be easy for her to change the artwork. Third, it had to look good. I think this fits all three.

This is so simple, you'll wonder why you never thought of this. The frames are foam board. Yep, foam board. I bought 4 large pieces of foam board for a couple dollars a piece, cut them and spray painted them then glued on little clothes pins. Simple.

Detailed instructions:

  • Make a paper template for the shape you'd like then trace that shape on your foam board . 
  • Use an x-acto knife over a self-healing cutting mat to cut your shape. Use a sharp blade and go slow. I cut out all 10 of these shapes and my wrists were pretty sore so maybe take a break in the middle.
  • Spray paint the front and edges of each board. Or use them white if you'd like. This would still look great on a colored wall.
  • Glue little clips or Mini Clothespin on the boards. Use a good glue. A hot glue gun will likely not hold well enough over time. I used E-6000.
  • Let the boards air out for a while before putting them in a child's room I aired them out for a couple weeks. Hang up with Removable Mounting Squares.

Done! I can't wait to see how my little artist fills her gallery wall. Do you have an artist in your house who would appreciate a wall like this?

March 13, 2012 in Crafts, DIY, Home & Fashion, Tutorials | Permalink | Comments (8) | TrackBack (0)

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February 28, 2012

21 DIY girly party favors

My 6 year old is about to be 7. I can hardly believe it. It is true what they say about it all going too fast. Right now I'm planning her birthday party. A simple party in the back yard with games and cupcakes. I want to make the party favors this year though. Something 7 year old girls would love and their parents wouldn't groan about more junk they don't need (hopefully). I haven't decided what I want to bake, craft or sew yet so I've narrowed down a little list of great DIY party favors of the girly variety.

Without further ado…




The Sassy Bag Pattern from PegAnders etsy shop would be very cute!


Pencil Rolls

Continue reading “21 DIY girly party favors” »

February 28, 2012 in Crafts, roundup, Sewing | Permalink | Comments (8) | TrackBack (0)

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February 01, 2012

Easy Valentine’s Day Heart Headband Tutorial

Valentine's Day is just around the corner! Are you ready for an adorable, simple heart headband tutorial? This cute headband will be perfect for your daughter, or YOU if you want! Thanks to Anshu from Blooms and Blossoms for sharing this tutorial!


Hello, Train to Crazy readers. There's just so much sewing crafting goodness here that I couldn't resist asking Andrea for an opportunity to guest post. To my amazement she said yes! So I brought you this So Sweet headband tutorial. I'm Anshu from Blooms And Bugs. I'm an engineer by the day and a crafter/seamstress during the wee hours of the morning. I write about my sewing adventures at Blooms And Bugs and also have an etsy shop with the same name. Drop by my blog for more sewing tutorials for little girls clothes and accessories.

I made this So Sweet Headband for my daughter for the Valentines Day. Here's what you need to make one for your sweetie:

Supplies:

  • 1/4 inch wide red elastic – 12.5 inches
  • Hot pink felt – 3 inch square ( cut a heart shape from this, the heart I cut was about 2 inches)
  • White Felt – 4 inch square ( cut a heart shape bigger than the pink one from this, the heart I cut was about 2.5 inches )
  • Small white button – 1
  • Threads – Red and White


Sew both the ends of elastic together by overlapping them half an inch. Reinforce his seam by sewing multiple times. I used a very narrow and small zigzag for extra strength. Don't worry if it looks shabby at this point, it will be concealed later on.


Place the bigger white heart beneath the joint in the headband.



Place the smaller pink heart over the headband such that the joint gets sandwiched between the two hearts.


Place a small white button on top of all the layers such that it sits on the headband. Hand-sew the button in place by inserting the thread through all the layers and going from one hole to the other multiple times.

Sew running stitches with white thread along the boundary of smaller heart.


Sew running stitches with Red/Pink thread along the boundary of bigger heart.

And you're done! Now go put it on the cutest kid around.

Pin It

February 01, 2012 in Crafts, Sewing , Sewing for Girls, Tutorials | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBack (0)

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January 09, 2012

Easy Valentine craft tutorial

Need a handmade Valentine project for your kids? I'm sharing a fun, easy tutorial over at Fancy Little Things. Valentine collage

Don't forget to buy your wool felt hearts at Heart & Felt and help my kids raise $5,100 to buy a home for an orphan family through World Vision! They are almost halfway to their fundraising goal and they need your help! A special thanks to Handmade Therapy for being our first Valentine heart buyer!

January 09, 2012 in Crafting with Kids, Crafts, Sewing | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)

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December 08, 2009

How to make a notepad

Making a notepad at home is easy. Here is how.

Gather your supplies.

  • Paper. Reuse paper or print out some cute to-do list or coloring pages. 
  • 2 rulers. You can use 2 wood blocks or shingles as well.
  • 2 or 3 binder clips. You can also use clamps if you are using wood blocks.
  • Paintbrush.
  • Padding compound, also known as notebook adhesive. Professional padding compound makes great notepads with the perfect binding and cleans up easily.
  • Cardboard. You can buy it or use an old cereal box.

Make a notepad!

  1. Now, cut your paper to the same size, along with your cardboard. 
  2. Straighten the paper along the edge you are going to bind. Glue 6
  3. Put a ruler on either side and secure with binder clips to hold paper in place. Use a small paintbrush or foam brush and paint a thin layer or padding compound on the edge of the paper. 
  4. Secure with another binder clip if necessary.
  5. Let dry.

That's it!

December 08, 2009 in Crafts, Tutorials | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBack (0)

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October 29, 2009

My ladybug

IMG_2236

My daughter changed her mind about her Halloween costume 3 days before Halloween. I searched for ladybug costume ideas and came up with a few cute examples. I couldn't find anything that was quick and easy and used what I had around the house so I invented my own. This method could be used for any type of dress up wings and took less than an hour to make. Most of the materials were repurposed.

What you will need:

1 old red t-shirt (or red knit, felt or fleece fabric)

1 small piece of black fabric (or old t-shirt or sweater)

28" of elastic (I used 1/2" width)

Old cereal box

Heavy stabilizer, or something equivalent.

Wonder under or similar for applique

Making the wings

Trace the shape of the wings onto the cereal box. Cut out one wing then use that as a template to trace the other wing so they are exactly the same shape. My wings were basically a semi-circle with a bit of a change up at the bottom. You could use a plain semi-circle and be just fine though.

IMG_2201 

Then use your cardboard as a template for your fabric. Using a pen (a fabric pen is preferred but it really doesn't matter) trace the shape of your wings onto your fabric. I used a men's XL t-shirt and had plenty of fabric. I put the template's straight edge on the fold so I only had to make one cut for each wing.

IMG_2202
DO NOT CUT ALONG YOUR MARKED LINE! Cut at least a half an inch around your marked line. You will be sewing directly on that line you drew.

Trace 8 small circles onto your wonder under. I used a kids' cup as my template. Iron the wonder under onto your black fabric. Cut out the circles and iron them on your red wing fabric. Note: The first time I did this I was not paying enough attention and put the dots on the front of one of the wings and the back of the other. Oops. Pay attention.

Sew around the edge of the circles with a zigzag stitch. I recommend using a tear away stabilizer on the back of the fabric if you are using knits to prevent puckering. If you don't have a stabilizer any old scrap of fabric will work. Just cut out a piece a bit larger than your circle and put it on the underside of the fabric. 

Next, fold the wing fabric, wrong sides together and put the cardboard sandwiched in between. I sewed the wings up around the edges, sewing on my marked line) and then trimmed the fabric.

IMG_2211
Next cut 2 rectangular pieces of the red fabric and 2 pieces of the heavy stabilizer. In a pinch, lightweight cardboard could work instead of the stabilizer. It won't be as flexible but it will keep the wings from sagging. In reality, no kid would know the difference.

Put the stabilizer in between the red fabric and sew around the edges. Trim the edges close to the seam.

IMG_2213
Next cut the elastic into two 14" pieces. I made a casing for my elastic but that isn't necessary. 

Now lay the wings down, dot side down and place this connector piece in between them where you want. Position the elastic and then sew it all together. This is how I placed mine.

IMG_2234
That's it! You're done. Now you have ladybug wings!

IMG_2238

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October 29, 2009 in Crafts, Sewing , Sewing for Girls, Sewing for kids, Sewing gifts, Tutorials | Permalink | Comments (4) | TrackBack (0)

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