Fabric Flower Necklace

I've had this cute little makeup bag for quite some time, but just recently, my son decided to dump my brand new bottle of foundation all over the inside and it soaked through on the other side of the bag.

I was so upset because I LOVE the pattern on the bag, so I decided to make a necklace out of it!

I started by tracing a few circles on the fabric. I wouldn't recommend using a permanent marker like I did, but it's all I had on hand. Luckily it blends in with the black on the leaves and flowers.

I wanted the circles to resemble flowers, so I made a few stitches in the center of each circle. I've seen other people do that and it looks great, but mine turned out kinda wonky =)

It was looking a little plain, so I cut out some burlap circles, slightly bigger than the flower patterned fabric, and did the same wonky stitching.

For the 'stamen', I used rhinestone brads, which also held all the fabric together.

Next, I glued the flowers onto a piece of white felt to hold it all together and then I trimmed the excess felt.

The next step was attaching the chain. I used a jump ring on either side of the necklace that I attached to both the felt and the burlap to make sure it was very secure.

And there ya have it! A cute a simple necklace.

If you have an old article of clothing that you love, don't throw it away!! Just make a necklace =)

 



Happy Valentine's Day

Ok, so I'm a little late with this, but Happy Valentine's Day!

My day was started off with Elijah playing his guitar and singing, "My wanna open my present". And I may or may not have eaten way too many homemade frosted, heart-shaped brownies =)

Take Flight

A few days ago, I showed you guys my latest map art, but told you there was more to it, which is what I'm here to show you now.

I started with this ugly picture/picture frame that cost $3 at a yard sale. Like the frames for my map art, I sanded it and stained it Dark Walnut.

For the 'picture' part of it, I cut out the words 'Take flight' with my silhouette and stenciled it onto some burlap. It looked great, but the blue and peach had to go!

I ended up painting the mat warm white and the inside border was painted the same chocolate brown as the 'Take flight'.

I hung the pictures at eye level, but unfortunately the dresser below is kind of on the short side. I'm thinking it will look fine once I put more accessories on the dresser though. Oh, and the pictures aren't crooked; I just desperately need another kind of camera lens =)

And here's one more picture just because I had it and didn't want to waste it, ha. 

Inexpensive Placemats

I've been looking for some placemats for quite a while now, but have had a difficult time finding something that was both inexpensive and something I actually liked. With no luck, I pretty much gave up until about a week ago when Elijah was playing with some cork tiles (as in the kind of cork you post notes on with thumbtacks), and I had one of those 'lightbulb' moments.

They are the perfect size and the price wasn't bad either. I got mine from Michael's and I wanna say they were $12 for a 4-pack, but of course I used a 40% off coupon.

I LOVE the deep chocolate color.

Warning: Objects in pictures are darker than they appear.

And the texture is wonderful! Do they remind anybody else of brownies? Sorry, I've been totally craving brownies and I'm making some tonight for Valentine's Day, so I have brownies on the brain =)

FYI: My lovely dishes are from the Dollar Tree! Aren't they awesome? I've been looking for plates like that for so long and I'm so happy I found them for a buck a piece!



More Map Art

Hey everyone!

I wanna show you guys what I've been up to, but it's a work in progress, so keep that in mind when you see the 'final' product.

So you guys probably know by now that I have a love for maps, and even though I already have some map art in the dining room, I decided to do some more on the opposite wall. At first, I was debating if I should do more map art, but the wall this art is on is actually a walkway to the living room, so I figured the 2 sets of maps wouldn't compete with each other.

I started with these 2 oak frames with oh-so lovely hunting pictures:

I sanded them down and stained them  Dark Walnut, and instead of putting the hunting pictures back (haha), I used this awesome map from Kate's Paperie.

I used the cardboard insert to trace a rectangle from each hemisphere, making sure it was centered, and popped them into the frames.

I'm so happy with how they turned out! They are going to go on either side of another piece of art I am going to make, so you'll have to check back to see the finished product =)

TIP: To create more of a casual look, leave the glass out of the frame.