PS I Made This

ps i made this

great title, great book. Part designer DIYPart fashion Part lifestyle inspiration guide. I counted 27 projects in this book. All are practical and with easy (obvious) to follow instructions.   Sample Trendy Fashion Project 1 How to Make a Fancy Ruffle Shirt (Upcycling a plain boring white t-shirt)     Sample Trendy Fashion Project 2 [...]

Valentine Heart Wreaths

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  Well-illustrated Tutorial To Make Rag Heart Wreaths as Valentines Gifts or Decoration By guest writer Lilana   “Hello, Fine Art Craft Guild readers! I’m the “Lilly” in LOVD, Lilly Of the Valley Designs. I’m a hardly-at-home-stay-at-home wife and mom, retired rocket scientist,  jewelry-maker, project seeker, and optimist do-gooder, and daily blogger at FeelLOVDeveryday. I [...]

Sweet Little Crochet Leaves :: Free Pattern

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  They all beg for them: crochet flowers, crochet roses & crochet hearts all want a couple of leaves to come along with them. Forgo the standard option of making them in green. Try a lovely cream-colored leaf to accompany your peach or pink flower, rose or heart.       Crochet Materials Yarn: I [...]

Curly Grosgrain Ribbons for Valentines Day Wreaths

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Something nifty today: Curly grosgrain ribbons! So cute!   I happen to fancy doing this today. Besides making darling wreaths with them, curled grosgrain ribbons are ideal to embellish a bunch of creative projects I’m working on. You need them too? How to Curl Grosgrain Ribbons The traditional recipe of baking curls has been around [...]

Make a Recycled Dryer Sheet Envelope

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  Great Idea:   Make your own envelopes for keepsakes from used dryer sheets. Jennifer from Sunny Vanilla executed this creative idea that was the brainchild of Paula Spahr. Let me show you her works of art:       How to Make Your Own Envelopes Step-by-Step Tutorial Just a few steps to success for [...]

Kaleidoscope Crochet Scarf

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  Remember that freeform crochet bolero I received but which did not fit whatsoever? I modified it into a rather fun and happy scarf that sure stands out.    (I have a few crochet flowers / rosettes left over, one of which is going to be a crochet brooch, which I’ll show you another day.) [...]

How to: Ying-Yang Friendship Bracelets

ying yang friendship bracelets

This friendship bracelet video tutorial with Chinese Ying-yang symbols celebrates several holidays together, from Chinese New Year (January 23), to our North American Valentines Day (February 14), to Carnival (March) in Latin America, where friendship bracelets were originally invented. This is a very happy friendship bracelet with lots of Chinese red for good luck. Makes [...]

DIY Leather Belts … w Tassels

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Just posted how to make tassels from scratch & from remnants, when I spotted a wonderful tutorial on how to make easy darling leather belts with tassels.   Such a fashion statement! source photo & how-to: Organized Living Solutions .

Tassels, Fun Handmade Home Accessories

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: shabby chic tassels like these are handmade home accents that transform a house.   This tassel is 100% recycled, and made of remnants of a sheer curtain & a shirt sleeve; a tiny bit of pre-used ribbon; and a broken bead spacer for the top.  The white ribbon from which the tassel hangs from [...]

AAA t-Shirt Bracelet: Leopard, Knotted, w Gold Chain

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: HANDMADE JEWELRY EXTRA-ORDINAIRE.  Old t-shirt + leopard design print + knot + gold chain = fabo bracelet. Absolutely wonderful. Let’s make some.    This fun tutorial video is long and chatty, so I’ve summarized the steps here for you. Cutting up a tee is just step 1…. Designer Connie Yu goes a mile further… [...]

Howto: Bolster Pillow with Romantic Print

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Pin It This handmade romantic bolster pillow is so authentically French. It looks like the most sophisticated, delicate hand embroidery. Yet, Nan, from ‘You Could Make That’ showed us how to make this so-French pillow by simply printing the design onto fabric.   Easy-to-make accessory for a romantic bedroom!

Contemporary Hexagon Pillows :: Free Sewing Pattern

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: this hexagon designer pillow pattern reads like a nature mosaic. Something soulful about handmade pillows that have such attention to painstaking detail. It’s an exquisite sewing pattern and it’s free.   By centering 6 identical petals, the master seamstress team at Sew4Home has orchestrated yet another winning design.   They share the sewing tutorial [...]

Martin Luther King Craft: Dream Quilt

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Martin Luther King Day coming up again on Monday January 16. To me, Martin Luther King Jr. stands for following your heart, your soul desire, your dream, your conviction and for courage doing so. Therefore, every year, I like to orchestrate a creative project in his honor.  This dream quilt pattern featured today is a [...]

Handmade Ruffle Rugs

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: easy rug-making technique that even kids can do. This handmade DIY ruffle rug offers a great way to blow new life into the mountain of unused or outgrown t-shirts in your family’s (and your neighbors’) closets. Fabulous and colorful, they would make hip and fun floor mats for bedrooms and bathrooms. With colors wisely [...]

DIY Animal Stencil Mugs

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: this fun and easy way to spruce up plain white mugs and to personalize them with the kids (or your) favorite animals and designs. Stencil your way to the farm …. Country Living offers free stencils to download of cows, sheep and pigs.

Felt Ruffle Rosette Pillow Pattern

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Tired of snow, rain or otherwise gloomy winter weather? Cheer up. This happy orange pillow tutorial will bring you into a good mood again. Dazzling ruffles are fast to produce on this easy-as-pie pillow.       The tutorial ::   Felt Rosette Pillow Step-by-step Instructions 1. cut circles 2. fold them twice and secure [...]

Freeform Crochet

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As you all know, I love knitting & crochet. So it’s to be expected that I get these kind of gifts. Usually I am thrilled with them, but sometimes, …. sometimes, it’s a miss… (silence) … So, here is my first challenge of 2012: a white elephant. It’s a ‘designer’ freeform crochet bolero vest. Could [...]

Christmas Tree Alphabet Ornaments

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: You actually have time to make these knitted letter ornaments for your Christmas tree, as keepsakes, or holiday gift tags.  Because all they require is an old sweater, a cereal box, a jab of glue, a little bell and a piece of string.  Easy 10-minute Christmas craft; faster if you make a dozen.   [...]

Christmas Stocking as Holiday Pillow

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Just a quick tip to repurpose your excess Christmas stockings that you might have been gifted over the years as holiday pillows.  Aren’t they fun?      How to Make Your Own Christmas Stocking Pillow No sewing machine required, just fill them up, and close them with a few stitches (or if you’re really in [...]

Gift Bags Made from Fabric

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: DIY idea after my own heart: wonderful design, easy, colorful + environmentally sound, i.e. gift bags made from fabric by Toni from Design Dazzle. Pretty reusable Christmas wrapping. They look fabulous under the Christmas tree and can be used year after year.  It takes less than 15 min to make one and when you [...]

Anthropologie Cascading Ruffle Skirt

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JUST IN TIME FOR THE HOLIDAYS God is generous. That’s what I’m thinking when friendly folks with fashion drafting skills share freely, and give us a gorgeous skirt design from Anthropologie. (So, I’m thrilled that Shams from ‘Communing with Fabric’ has come into existence in the world in San Francisco, and has been ever-so-kind to [...]

Getting Kapok

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How Much Kapok Do You Need ? Depending on the exact measurements you’ll choose, for a zafu meditation pillow like this, you will need approximately 2.5 lbs. of kapok. Where to buy quality Kapok? At Carolina Morning. I’m excited to announce our new affiliation with Carolina Morning. The folks there just love their work, and [...]

Why Kapok in Zafu Meditation Pillows

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Pin It Last New Year, I posted a tutorial on how to make your own Zafu Meditation Pillow, as meditating is a wonderful New Year resolution.     To sit comfortably while you meditate you really must have a zafu. If you haven’t made one of these pillows yet, now is the perfect time to [...]

DIY Fun Earwarmers with Flowers

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Pin It : Quick Christmas Gift. This cute woolen ear warmer is a quick sewing project that will can be completed within half hour or so. It’s one of those crafts/DIY projects that you’ll inspire you to make a couple, so give some away and make one for yourself. This Winter, keep your ears warm. [...]

Sew a Wild Scrappy Pillow

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: a unique quilting pattern. Quilting may sound kind of tame, however, with Alisa Burke, quilting changes tack and sails the winds of adventure! Look what she did….     Step-by-step Fabric Painting, Sewing & Quilting Instructions   1. Hand stamp & hand print your  own fabric. That is: make your own stamps with foam [...]

Anthropologie’s Kitchen Decor (Santa Monica)

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Pin It I love wandering through Anthropologie. Do you?  The creative input of a visit is like flipping through 17 lifestyle magazines and half a dozen groovy design books, all at the same time.    Yes, I was lucky to spend quite a bit of time in the Anthropologie shop in Santa Monica, LA as [...]

Felt Christmas Decorations

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Lovely things from fabric are to be made by hand for the Christmas trees. In Pasadena, CA, I came across darling felted trees, birds made from fabric scraps, woolen balls adorned with hand-embroidered icicles, wreaths made out of scrap fabric balls, and other such unique treasures. Be inspired by my collection….   This is my [...]

New Free Winter Knitting & Crochet Pattern eBook

Free patterns

: Not all eBooks are born equally and this one is definitely born unequal to others. It’s based on Bernat’s fabulous mosaic yarn, which comes in 2012 fashion colors. Furthermore, the 12 crochet & knitting patterns in this eBook are for unique & beautiful fashion designs.  Here are two examples:  an infinity designer shawl and [...]

Crochet Pattern Coffee Cup Sleeve

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this: totally adorable crochet pattern for a coffee cup sleeves. You can whip it up in half an hour or less. And the versatility of the pattern allows you to create a rainbow of options to personalize this handmade Christmas gift for everyone in the household. This small crochet project is ideal to use up [...]

Halloween in Hollywood

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Pin It: First set of wonderful photos of stunning and outlandish Halloween costumes. Hollywood does it. Even the major was in a terrific cowboy costume. Kid-friendly photos here, despite the many sexy outfits there, at…. … one of the world’s largest Halloween celebrations: the 2011 West Hollywood Halloween Costume Carnival on Santa Monica Boulevard in [...]