Napkins-Are-For-Fancy-People Pillows

Disclaimer: this tutorial is for those with some (albeit minimal) sewing experience. Mainly because, I am redonkulous when it comes to teaching things. If you want some great tutorials on sewing, check out Make it and Love it. They always have great tips and awesome projects going on over there!

Ever see a bunch of clearanced napkins at your local bazzar style store and think, "Love the fabric, but fabric napkins are too shnazzy for my people." No? Me neither. 

But I did love the fabric on these World Market napkins [same fabric as my table runner curtain.] They were a buck. Sounds cheaper than a dollar, doesn't it?

And yes, fabric napkins are too shnazzy for my people. We use like 3 napkins each when we eat. 

Either we're really messy eaters, or strive for really tidy faces. Jurys still out.

Well I'm gonna show you another use for those napkins. A higher level of class mind you!

3 napkins per pillow is what you'll need (sounds like the first line in a terrible square dancing song)

Doing it this way gives you an envelope closure so you can actually take off the pillow cases and wash them. 

Lets hear it for cleanliness.

This photo below only shows how you need to overlap your napkins. You don't actually sew it like this 

because....1. right sides are not together
2. its crooked, yo!

There much better.  Then pin and sew around the edges. Sew just on in the inside of the hemmed edge.

Then trim off your excess like so....

(I've always wanted to use "like so..." in a legit sentence.)

Turn right side out and stuff (we already had 20" square pillow inserts). Make sure to karate chop the pillow before you photograph it. 

It will make you happy, I promise.

[The middle pillow is made from a place mat. Also for fancy people.]

  

The blue pillows are also made out of napkins, but no envelope covers. They are just straight up square pillows. 

One helpful tip though is when you trim the excess after sewing (and you have remembered to leave a hole to stuff the fluff into) leave some of the hemmed edge of the napkin. It makes it easier to turn inside and stitch the hole closed.

Ahh....perdy cheap pillows.

Sharing at the Weekend Wrap Up

Lamp Shade via My Super Powers

So I've discovered something great recently. The best place to buy junk is at antique stores and the best place to buy antiques are at junk stores.

Its brilliant really. The junkin stores don't know an antique when they have them, and the antiques just want to get rid of the junk because its taking up precious antique space.

So where'd I get this fine piece o' junk? At an antique store of course!

2 dolla....holla!

I wasn't really diggin' the vinyl wrapped shade though.

No problems. Just started ripping. See the fine craftmanship below? You can tell how long it took me to deconstruct this. Like .04 seconds!

I toyed with the idea of just leaving the metal frame as is on my lamp. But then I got all motherly and concerned about little fingers touching heated metal. I know....touching.

So I took a piece of burlap from my stash and traced out (with sidewalk chalk) the "rolling pattern" that my shade made.

Yep, sidewalk chalk. I've also been known to write a grocery list with crayon a time or two.

Cut and glue. If you have a finished edge (see the left side of the photo above) use that to your advantage. I used that as the top overlapping layer because it looked better.

Just work quickly gluing the burlap with your hot glue. 

The burns were worth it. Actually, its like a guitar player...the more you do it, the less it hurts.

Touching hot glue with bare hands is like my super power now.

Pennant Wall Art

The gallery wall is finally complete!

Check out from whence it came here (is that how you say it!? I'm notorious for getting cliches wrong!)

Next up in the hallway art is my favorite piece

well, besides the ones of my children's heads.

And if you missed a few posts, they're not actually my children's heads. They are silhouettes.

No need to alert the authorities.

A lot of the things I do have been inspired by other projects I've seen.

I'm proud to say that this one I dreamt up while trying to figure out how to fill that last frame!

1. Cut triangles out of cardboard. (I forget what type of triangles, geometry was so long ago!)  

These will be your pennants. The number and size you cut will depend on what size frame you're using. 

2. Cut scraps of leftover fabric, enough to cover the front and wrap around the backs of the pennants.

3. Run a thin strip of hot glue along the top of the pennant, fold your fabric over and press.

4. Wrap the sides like you would a gift. Tuck and fold baby, tuck and fold.

5. Trim away the excess. The back doesn't have to be pretty, it'll be attached to your background.

6. Flip, admire, and repeat.

7. I used just the frame. No glass, no backing. So laid the ribbon for my pennant across the front, then I hot glued some fabric pulled taut for my background. Then just glue a ribbon across the back to hang the frame from!

Incase you didn't know this, I love my hot glue gun!

8. Glue each pennant flag to your background. Then manipulate the ribbon to get the curve and attach the ribbon to the tops of each flag. 

Tip: start from the middle and work your way out, just eyeball it. Even shmeven.

The last one is done!

Here's the final product(s)! 

Sorry about the wocky angle, you can only press your back against a wall so much!

Gallery Wall Silhouette

When I revealed our gallery wall in the hallway I had two empty frames.

Well nekkid no more! 

Here's an art project for our first lil nudie...

This is another silhouette (because I love them) and it was done the same way I did the silhouettes of the kids. Google and all.

1. Google whatever silhouette image you desire, for our dog Braylin I searched "labrador silhouette"...because she's a labrador and all

2. Print and cut

3. Place your image onto a piece of black cardstock

4. Trace and cut

For the look I was wanting, I wanted the "matting" for my frame to match the actual matting that was used for the silhouettes of the bambinos. So...

5. Cut white cardstock to fit your frame, and then another piece just large enough to fit your silhouette.

6. Cut black cardstock about 1/4" larger than your smallest white piece

7. Layer and compare to your subject

See!? I just got a google image and saved so much time and frustration! 

Can you imagine trying to get a big dopey dog to stand still long enough to get the perfect photo needed to make a silhouette!? I'll pass.

One nekkid frame down. One more to go!

Hall Wall (why do I always want my post titles to rhyme?!?)

So I mentioned before that I was crushin' on Sandra's home tour at Sawdust and Paperscraps. 

Here is one of my favorite photos 

(pulled straight from my "Inspiration" photo folder in our photo program.)

I highly recommend everyone has one.

::stepping off my soap box now::

Is it not absolutely fantastic!? I love gallery walls but sometimes they look too busy. Instant solution to the business is to have frames that are all the same (or 3) colors.

Genius.

So here's what I had to work with.

A snoozer hallway which leads into our shweet foyer

So I measured out what space I'd have to work with on the wall and recreated that space on the floor with masking tape.

Then grabbed every empty (or with a photo but siting in a closet) frame I owned

Just start messing around with it! 

Taking photos of each layout helped so much because then I could flip back through them to see which one I liked better. I have about 40 more....but I'll spare you with just one more option....

Then OCD me made a color plan before I started painting my frames. (And if you're super observant, you'll notice that I made a change even after I made my "map")

And here we are today!

I framed more than just photos.

Sea life corpses (ha...thats my starfish)

Quotes I love

Silohuettes of people I love (more on that later!)

and scrapbooking embellishments (the one I used says "Love")

yeah...we're kind of fond of love around here...

And if you're wondering the quote says

"I've fallen in love many times...always with you."

Oh yes, and a plate. Because its cute, and I can.

Notice that I have two empty frames? Thats because I'm brewing up two more craftastic things to do in those and share tutorials with you guys.

Because thats how I roll.

Crafting Itch

If you are really passionate about something, you can't stay away long.

Despite my crazy school schedule, I still get the crafting itch.  

Just a lil' bit.

I have to craft something...

Or I'll lose it!

So while I was sitting in one my nursing classes totally paying attention, I came up with this quickie...

This is an MDF filing cabinet that a friend gave my husband before we were married, when our house was empty...of me.

We use it now to keep important stuff in. Like tax documents. Birth and marriage certificates. Passports. Yada yada. 

Like- if the house burns. Grab the cabinet (and the children)!

So I decided to pretty it up and make it flow more with the rest of the house.

So I took out the bottom cabinet and did a quick paint job. 

White on bottom. Light blue on top.

Love!

(Then I did a little redecorating on top and pillow swaperooney with my pillow shmillow)

(and yeah, there is a TINY bit if Christmas decorating! Shhh!!!)

And don't worry Mom, I didn't throw the important papers away, just sorted through the junk!

Sharing at

Pillow Shmillow

I thought I didn't have enough time to do it all...

Family

Church

School

....................

Youth Group

Blogging

Crafting

But then you know what I realized?! They actually exist in my life better together than apart. Because when all the items listed above makes me want to cry and rock in the fetal position, the bottom of the list helps me cope! (Ask me about coping mechanisms...go ahead, Behavioral Health Nursing classes has them DRILLED into my brain!)

So while my blogging has been hit and miss, my crafting has not. I need it. And coffee. And chocolate....oh, and Glee.

So to compromise and try to allow everything to exist in harmony, I have to adjust. So for now, my crafty goodness consists of quick projects with stuff I can easily get my mitts on. Oh and cheap! (Hello...college student crafting here!)

Here's a peek at one

I found two down pillows at our consignment store for 2 dollah (hollah!!). Since second hand pillows from a stranger gives me the complete heeby geebies, I decided to use them for throw pillows on the couch. (These were clean. Unstinky. And nicely fluffed pillows here. I'm not recommending this unless you find a dazzling white pillow that is unstinky and nicely fluffed!)

To start I figured out the size I wanted my pillow to be and shook all the feathers into one side of the pillow and sewed up the opposite end.

Then I cut the end off that I didn't want and took the pillow outside to pick out the extra feathers that were trying to escape.

I cut my fabric a little wider and twice as long (plus a few inches for overlap) than my pillow form dimensions. (Can you see how exact my measurements are here!?). Then I overlapped the pillow to make an envelope and sewed it with wrong sides together.

(and to reiterate the fact that I only use stuff thats easy to get my hands on I included this shot. I forgot to grab some pins so I used my earring to hold the fabric while I stitched.)

Turn right side out

and stuff with dazzling white pillow that is not completely disgusting but is from the second hand store.

Cute. No?

And let the record show that pretty much all I can sew is pillows. As evidenced by my couch being over taken with pillows!