what a fun blog: Creative Kismet

i found the blog "Creative Kismet" today. very inspiring craftyness, clever and low cost ideas, and great tutorials!

these are all crafts that have diy totorials. check them out! :)

gifts from the heart

today my very good friend Kristin turn 18! :D note:
KRISTIN, IF YOU'RE READING THIS BEFORE YOUR PARTY SATURDAY NIGHT, STOP! DON'T SPOIL THE SURPRISE!!!!

ok well, you might remember in the months of september, i vowed to NOT SPEND ANY MONEY for a whole month. well, last month i went a little overboard and i think another swearing off spending is in order for the month of february. although its only 4 days into this month and i've already spent $30 in korean stickers- more on that later- and a bottle of nail polish and floral wire.. ok ill just stop there. EEPS! :-S  well this project cost me NOTHING! :) but its from the heart and it turned out super cute so i know she'll love it. ;) the only thing i spent money on was that i got her a disposable camera to go with it. $3.50. i can live with that.

*clears throat* okie dokie then. well TRYING to be frugal,  here's what i made, a photo album, posing with one of the cute handmade owls that the lovely Brina gave me in the Surprise Ball Gift Swap a while back. <3

cute, right?  want to make one? well here's how! :D
Materials:

1. cardboard
2. fabric
3. fabric glue
4. ribbon
5. eyelets and eyelet tool
6. clear plastic page protectors
7. scrapbook paper
8. sewing machine / needle + thread + patience 
9. scrapbook paper

optional for decoration:

1. fabric paint
2. felt
3. small beads
4. embroidery thread

ok so first thing, cut your cardboard. (i got my cardboard from the packaging insert from a calander - $0)

the back cover is 5 X 8 inches, and the front is two parts so it has a hinge. the larger part is 5 X 6 1/2 and the smaller part is 5 X 1 inch. i poked 3 holes in the small part, and 3 holes in the back cover. make sure they line up!

next, chose your fabric. i chose solid pink with a striped pattern on the inside. the fabric for the outer cover should be roughly 8 X 9 1/2. just as long as you have enough to fold over, really. i cut the fabric for my inner cover the same size as the cardboard, 5 X 8. for the inner fabric, cut out the corners, pin about a half inch inside, iron and sew. (fabric scraps i had laying around for over a year - $0)

yeah, i know it's crooked. i eyeballed this project. i wasnt exact on everything. :]

ok so now you have your covers (front and back, inside and outside) all cut out. time to make 'em pretty! :D

you can do whatever you want for this step, but i chose to use felt and spell out PICS with beaded and embroidered detail. these are all things i had on hand. $0. booyah.

cute cute cute.

i embellished the inner covers with a little fabric paint. i taped off sections and brushed over it with gold fabric paint. i tried one with stripes and one with zig zags. i liked the zig zags  :]

next,  spread fabric glue all along the cardboard out to the edges. place the cardboard on the fabric, centered. make sure when you glue on the front cardboard (the two pieces)that the gap between then is 1/2 inch, so together they are as long as the back cover, 8 inches. and keep in mind that you'll need to glue the 1 inch cardboard to your left side, since you're glueing it to the wrong side. so once you turn it over it'll be on the right.. i know that should go without saying, but hey, its something i would do. :-P

 now cut the corners out of the outer cover fabric and glue the flaps in.

   now cut the corners out of the outer cover fabric and glue the flaps in.

 next, glue on the inner covers. i shifted mine over so it would be easier to poke holes through the pink fabric for the binding.

now you'll need to add the eyelets for the binding. this part was tricky. just make sure you make your holes big enough to put the eyelets through where they won't get tangled in the fibers of the fabric.

the way eyelets work is this: they come with a little shaped piece of metal, and another one that's a little longer. you put your eyelet between them and hit it with a hammer. the two pieces bend the back of the eyelet down and hold it into place. if that doesn't make sense, there are instructions on the package of eyelets. and they're cheap. like $2.50 for a 24 pack with the special metal pieces included.

well, your cover is DONE! :D mine got a little warped and wrinkly.. :( so sad.

now for the inside. cause it's what's inside that counts, right? riight?

for this part i took regular page protectors and cut them down to 5 X 8 inches.

now stitch up the bottom and right side. make sure you leave the top open so you can slide in paper and pictures. the left side won't matter because it will be bound with ribbon at the end.

i decorated the edges of some of the page protectors with sharpie and stamps. (if you use stamps, make sure you use the Stayzon brand. other brands won't dry on the plastic and will just smear. ew.)

i also added a few random pages of paper and magazine pictures so my friend can journal on them.

now the binding part is rather tedious, but don't give up now, you're so close! :D

the hole punch i had didn't punch a clean hole through the plastic. it more like, popped it? so i had to add each page one by one and kind of struggle with it. but it was worth it. :] tie ribbons in bows and finish ends with fray-stop or clear nail polish. cute, right?

 what it looks like with photos. this is one of a good friend of mine with my kitty when she was a baby. *aaaw she was so cuuuuute!!!*

 a journaling page

another journaling page

warning: this project is likely to make your room look like this!

gaaaah! D:

wasn't that fun? gift wrap and card tutorial coming tomorrow! ;) stick around.

natural beauty

aesthetic outburst is one of my favorite blogs. always something pretty to be found there. today i saw this little tutorial for making these cute butterfly finger puppets. so cute!

 source

 
even though this is super simple, i think its amazingly beautiful. <3 so in love.

source

 my family and i are still waiting to see if we will be moving to a bigger house. crossing our fingers.. if we DO move, i think i'll make a big bouquet of these pretty sticks for the living room.

moss and magnolias wreath

i have a habit of getting a little side-tracked. and i also have a bad habit of adding to my to-do list before i scratch things off. oh well. :]

today i made this.

i already had the wreath form and it was already covered in moss green yarn. it was left over from this project i did back in the spring. i did this after reading Elsie's DIY here on A Beautiful Mess.

the butterflies had faded and fallen apart, so i ripped them off and kept the form for future projects.

i wont get into the instructions for wrapping the wreath form; if you really want to know, click the link above. its just cutting your yarn into 2ft segments (to make it easier) and hot glueing it to the back of the wreath.

to make my "moss and magnolias" wreath, i first cut out the magnolia petals. i used an ivory colored cotton fabric, and made little ovals. the size ranging from silver dollar to quarter.

then, to give it a little personality, i painted the edges of the petals with brown water-color paint. it just gives it a subtle, antique-style stain.

after the water color had dried, i hot glued them together, largest on the bottom, then put button centers on.

then i made little fabric roses, in this context i guess they're more like moss patches. all i did was take three strips of fabric, braid them, then hot glue them into a spiral shape. (if you want to make these roses into brooches or hair things, i would hand sew them into a spiral, rather than use the glue gun)

then i (quickly) made a gypsy moth out of craft cardstock. i used a photo from google images as a reference.

i also used a faux fern that i had gotten at hobby lobby on clearance for 9 cents. it was one of those things where i bought it saying "i don't know if i'll ever use this for anything, but hey, for 9 cents? i can't go wrong.."

i positioned all the parts on the wreath where i wanted them, then glued them down.
i felt like it was missing something, so i added some real moss. reindeer moss, to be exact.

and some ribbons to hang it.
pretty cute, right?? :D i'm pretty happy with how it turned out. <3

what have i been up to lately? lots.

so here is a little tutorial-ish post. i made some bunting flags the other day and wanted to share my how to.


Materials:

• fabric scraps at least 1/3 yard wide
• fabric glue
• extra-wide double fold bias tape

1) make sure fabric is doubled over, wrong sides together (this is so there's no front or back to your flags)
2) with pinking sheers, cut isosceles triangles. mine are 8 inches wide and 9 inches long, but the size can be adjusted to your liking



3) on the longer sides, sew straight lines about 1/2 inch away from the edge. *if you're like me, and you don't really know how to sew, here's a tip i remembered from home ec- when you get to the tip of the flag, make sure the needle is down in the fabric, then lift the presser foot. this allows the fabric to pivot in the machine, and continue along the angle of the triangle*
you don't need to sew along the shorter side.


4) lay out bias tape on a table or floor. use fabric glue to glue the flags in place, 2-3 inches apart. *this is easier than pinning* let dry completely.


5) sew along bias tape to secure flags in place